Stoppable's Strikers
by TheImmortalGriffin
Summary: Newly Minted Lt. Sarah Stoppable leads her squad to a new world to set up a new S.I.C.O.N. outpost. Under the experienced command of General Kim Possible the fleet sets course, but an old enemy has secretly been preparing for their arrival...
1. Chapter 1  Catching Up

Disclamer: I don't own Kim Possible and any related characters/vehicles/trademarked names to either her or Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles. However most of the cast is of my creation.

**Chapter 1**

**Catching Up**

As she stepped out of the car that had picked her up from the landing pad at the M.I. base outside of Middleton, the newly minted Lieutenant Sarah Stoppable took a moment to reflect on the months she had just spent training in Officer's Candidacy School. Both at Sanctuary and on board the _Allegiance_ as a junior officer. Her short, bright red hair waved in the wind as she finished unloading her bags from the car. Looking up at the sky with her dark green eyes and looking down at her parents home, she took a second to take in everything around her. Putting her sunglasses on, she stretched and began up the walk.

The front door opened and her mother walked out, wearing sweat pants and a small t-shirt that suggested she was off-duty. Still retaining her youthful looks and spirit, anyone else would have guessed Kim's age at mid thirties, not almost fifty.

"SARAH!" she called. Sarah smiled and put down her bag. As the two embraced, Sarah felt good to see her mother again. Despite all her determination and strength, she still felt a little homesick at times and longed to be back in familiar surroundings.

Kim bent down and picked up one of her daughter's bags and started walking back to the house.

"How was the flight home?" she asked

"It was fine. We had a bit of engine trouble leaving Sanctuary, but otherwise it went smoothly" Sarah answered "Where's dad?"

"Your father is working at his restaurant. He had a large group to cater to tonight so he'll be home later" Kim said

"I'm sorry I couldn't make your graduation" she added "I missed the last transport and there were no cleared pilots available"

"It's alright" Sarah replied "It wasn't the same without you there, but I survived" she smiled

"That's my girl" Kim smiled as she put the bag down on the floor and closed the door into the house

"I did watch the Fed Net stream of it though" Kim added

"That's good" Sarah smiled

"So, Hotshot, glad to be back home?" Kim asked, referring to the nickname Sarah had been given during basic

"Ask me after a nap" Sarah chuckled

"Ha ha fair enough" Kim replied.

xxxx

Sarah set her bags down on her bedroom floor and lay back on her bed. _Damn, it's good to be home_ she thought to herself as she stared up at the ceiling, just like she used to do when she was deep in thought. She felt so much more comfortable here, rather than in the squad bunk aboard the Allegiance. For obvious reasons too. Her room was nice and open and painted with bright colours, the squad bunk was not. Military grey was the colour and it had one window that was so small, you could barely see out of it.

"Ah it's good to be home" she said, the familiar comfort was something she longed for. Fluffing her pillow, she heard a knock on the door

"Come in" she said aloud

"Hey kiddo" Kim said, opening the door "Mind if I come in?"

"Hey mom. Yeah, sure, what's up?"

"Just checking in to see how you're settling in" Kim sat down on one of the chairs while Sarah continued to sprawl on the bed

"Missed a comfy bed?" Kim chuckled

"Oh you have no ide..." Sarah realized what she was saying and stopped before she finished

"Oh, I'm pretty sure I do" Kim said with a grin on her face

"Is this going to be another war story about how you had to sleep in trenches with the threat of bug attacks at any time?"

"Ha ha. It might be. But I'll save it for later" Kim stood up "Your father is going to be home in an hour and I need to finish dinner"

"Sounds good" Sarah replied and put her head down on the pillow

"Welcome home" Kim said and walked out.

Ron walked in the door a bit later

"The Ron man is home!" he announced "KP I'm smelling something good"

"Well that's a relief. Welcome home" Kim gave her husband a kiss on the cheek.

"Now wait a second, something is missing here. Something important" Ron said, narrowing his eyes

"DADDY!" Sarah called out as she lunged through the kitchen door and gave her father a hug

"Oooof" Ron reacted, stumbling backwards "There we go. Good to see you too, kiddo" Ron said, brushing Sarah's hair. Kim couldn't help but smile.

"Dinner is in five" Kim said and handed Sarah some plates. _Oh yes, I'm home_ Sarah thought to herself.

"So how was OCS?" Kim asked as she sat down to dinner.

"Not as easy as I thought it would be. But I pushed through. It was a lot of work, a lot of paperwork. Lot of studying" Sarah said between mouthfuls

"And command training?"

"Yup. My grades were fairly high. Some of the command training exercises were confusing at times" Sarah said, taking a mouthful of the food "Though some of the stuff you taught me, mom, it really helped" she admitted

"Well I'm glad we could help" Kim said

"Was a lot more challenging than boot, I'll tell you that much"

xxxx

Sarah grunted as she held her arms over her head, blocking Kim's attack. Allowing herself to be pushed down, she balanced on her left leg and swung her right towards her mother's leg.

Kim dodged the attack and swung back with a roundhouse kick aimed at Sarah's head.

Sarah jumped back and dove at the floor where Kim was. Expecting this, she swung her leg around at the last second, catching Kim off guard and tripping her.

Kim hit the floor and rolled to the side, barely avoiding an elbow strike. She quickly got up and put her foot down, tripping Sarah as she tried to attack. As Sarah fell, Kim grabbed the back of her shirt and put a leg over top of her daughter's right thigh.

"Yield" Kim said

"Never" Sarah replied and struggled. Kim let go of her shirt, letting her fall to the matted floor and quickly putting an elbow on back of Sarah's neck.

"Yield" Kim repeated, her other hand locking Sarah's arms in place

"Fine, I yield" Sarah admitted.

Kim stood up and wiped the sweat off her forehead then helped Sarah get back on her feet before walking to the side of the gym to grab her water bottle and taking a drink. Sarah collapsed against the matted wall, panting. Kim plopped down beside her

"You almost had me" Kim said "I'm impressed" Sarah smiled and looked at her

"If you were anyone else, I'd be sulking in defeat" she admitted. Kim laughed loudly and stood up, messing Sarah's hair as she did

"Keep practising. You're bound to beat me eventually" she winked at Sarah as Ron walked in. Kim walked up to him

"She almost had me on that one" she whispered, gave him a kiss and walked out of the gym.

Sarah was back on the mats doing pushups.

"How you doing, Kiddo?" Ron asked. Sarah stopped and jumped up.

"I'm fine, dad" Sarah said "Almost had her"

"She told me as much" Ron said "But shh, you didn't hear that from me" he winked

"Heard what?"

"That's my girl" Ron said with a smile "C'mon, your dad needs some help in the garage"

xxxx

Walking into her room after an evening of chatting with her parents in the living room, Sarah changed into her pyjamas and crawled into bed. Turning off the light, she pulled the covers over herself and stared up at the ceiling, her mind drifting.

AN: They're baaaaaaaack!

Yes, the Kim Possible/Starship Troopers Roughnecks crossover is back. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!


	2. Chapter 2  En Route

Disclamer: I don't own Kim Possible and any related characters/vehicles/trademarked names to either her or Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles. However most of the cast is of my creation.

**Chapter 2**

**En Route**

One week later.

Sarah stepped off the bus outside the base walls. Taking a deep breath, she stepped through, her green and black uniform, crisp, clean and pressed, worn with pride. The bars on her shoulder freshly polished and glimmering in the light. Her hair tied at the back of her head and her cap snugly resting on top. The entrance to the base read "187th Deep Space Command Camp Terifa"

Taking a deep breath, she walked up to the gate and presented her I.D. badge. The solider on duty opened the gate and saluted. She saluted back and walked in.

Entering the office she walked up to the duty desk

"Can you direct me to the General's office, please?"

"Right down that hallway" the Sergeant on duty replied

"Thank you" Sarah said and walked down the hallway

"Lieutenant Stoppable reporting for duty, Ma'am" Sarah said, entering the General's office and giving a salute.

"At ease Lieutenant" Kim said, returning the salute. Sarah's jaw dropped. "Did command not mention that you are under my command here, Lieutenant?" Kim asked.

Sarah knew the tone of Kim's voice. It meant that being Kim's daughter was no excuse and made no difference in the way Kim would command her. She straightened her back and answered

"No, Ma'am. My orders said nothing of that nature" she replied

"I will mention that to command" Kim sighed and picked up a data pad. Sarah put her hands behind her back. "Your new squad has been assembled and is awaiting you, Lieutenant" Kim said

"Thank you, General. Do you have the personnel file?" Sarah asked

"Right here" Kim replied and handed her a data pad.

"Thank you, General"

"That will be all, Lieutenant" Kim said, picking up another data pad. Sarah saluted and walked out.

Sarah scrolled down the screen as she walked, reading aloud to herself

"Let's see, Shelis, Megan. Sergeant. Decorated officer, promoted to Sergeant for heroism during the incident on Fergos. Psych eval says she's determined and unshakable from whatever her goal is. Strict military discipline" Sarah read the profiles out one by one.

"Zelna, Tamona. Corporal. Trained in heavy explosives and weaponry. Eval says skill in infiltration is minimal.

Decly, Brad. Corporal. Skilled pilot and driver. Transferred out of fleet academy due to recklessness. Top scores in all simulators. Psych eval says extreme overconfidence and ego is his major downfall.

Barcel, Alexa. Corporal. Trained and capable medic. Nicknamed "Angel" for skill in saving lives. Fatality rate for her is less than five percent. Highly skilled sniper.

Howard, Michael. Private. Two years service. Psych Eval says that he has no real aspirations or dreams. Lives through the moment, but has a high intelligence aptitude score

Theon, Anna. Private. Fresh out of boot. Trainers report says that though she is headstrong, she often goes too far to accomplish an objective. Also a tech geek. Top marks in electronics and hardware.

And finally, Wretz, Jason. Private. Also fresh out of boot. Trainers report says that he lacks the discipline necessary for being a solider, but is quite effective with a rifle. Suggests high-risk commando unit" She finished and looked at their profile images.

Rounding a corner towards the barracks she took a deep breath and tried to ready herself for the next step in her career.

Opening the door to her office, she took a long look around. The room, despite being small, was neat and tidy, everything was shiny and polished and ready for her. The desk had several folders on it that all bore the S.I.C.O.N. insignia, which gave her cause for concern. Bureaucratic forms were never done on paper unless they were top level classified. She removed her cap and placed it on the desk before sitting down to read the folders.

"Hmm, major mission. Why command would assign me to this, I don't know" she said quietly. Standing up she put her cap back on and walked out of the office.

xxxx

The troopers were all conversing as Sarah walked in, introducing themselves to each other.

Sergeant Megan Shelis noticed Sarah first.

"OFFICER ON THE DECK" she barked and stood up. All the troopers quickly moved into line formation in front of their bunks, looking straight forward. Sarah walked forward

"I'm Lieutenant Sarah Stoppable..." she said in a loud but clear, confident and commanding voice "And yes, before anyone asks, I am the General's daughter. But let me make this perfectly clear, I don't get special treatment from her. I worked my way up the ladder. I do my best and I expect nothing less than that from all of you. Is that clear?"

SIR, YES SIR" all the troopers responded in unison

"Very well. At ease" Sara said and walked in front of them, looking at each one of their faces. "Alright, command has a big undertaking for us. Mission briefing in the war room in ten" she said and started to walk out, but stopped at the door "That's all" she finished and walked out, breathing a sigh of relief.

xxxx

Soon later, in the main briefing room on the base, Sarah and her squad along with Kim were standing around the projection table with several others, including two M.I. Squads and several Fleet officers. Kim recognized one of the Squads as Cosan's Commandos, led by Lieutenant Lucas Cosan, one of her friends from O.C.S. who had graduated a year before her. She wasn't sure who the other squad was, but their Lieutenant's helmet read "Bergal". Sarah did recognize two of the Fleet officers right away. One of them was Commander Lisa Kazli, captain of the _Allegiance_, and Major Sam Allen, flight leader for the Allegiance. He had been a close friend of Sarah's while she was in O.C.S. aboard the Allegiance.

The doors to the briefing room opened and in walked Colonel Malcolm Artis, a man known for doing things inflexibly "by the book" and "with correct procedure". He approached the main table and started speaking.

"This is a very important mission. We are sending three star ships to a newly-discovered world to sent up a mining and research base" he said as he pressed some buttons on the console and the table began to project an image of a planet that had a bit of a greenish-blue glow to it, but with lots of yellow mixed in, not too much unlike Earth. "It's a remote world, almost at the edge of the galaxy and it contains some unique minerals and elements that R&D are anxious to get their hands on. The fleet will consist of the _Allegiance_, the _Independence_ and the _Valkyrie_. Each ship will have three M.I. squads assigned to it as well as one additional fighter wing"

"That's a lot of firepower. Are we expecting any trouble?" Kim asked

"We have no reason to. But being a newly settled world, we are taking no chances and it is mainly to give the scientists a hand with the heavy lifting and provide standard security. Nothing more. One of the fighter wings and one of the trooper squads will be remaining behind to provide the military element to the facility" he said and turned back to the rest of the group "Now, one other thing you should know. We've had to take out the stasis pods in Med Lab to make room for base equipment and vehicles. None of you will be snoozing on this trip. Everyone clear on that?"

The replies from around were all the same, everyone understood.

"Alright, good. Now, Commander Kazli will be acting Flag officer for the duration of this assignment, until a proper command can be set up on that world. General Stoppable will be acting commander on the ground. Clear?" he asked Kim and Commander Kazli directly. Both nodded.

After the rest of the assignments and the mission were gone over in the kind of detail that the Colonel was known for doing,the left and headed back towards his office. The troopers and officers broke up and headed back to the barracks.

xxxx xxxx

On the bridge of the _Allegiance_, a few days later, Kim stood beside Commander Kazli, awaiting final clearance to get under way. On the other side of the commander stood Major Maxine Uitol, the INTEL officer assigned to this mission. The radio finally crackled to life

"Fleet Group Echo, you are cleared for undocking and departure. Good hunting" came over the speakers. Kazli pressed a button on her console

"Copy that Ob Com. Fleet group departing" Kazli said and looked down at the pilot's chair, at Major April Arke "Alright Major, signal the fleet and lets get under way"

"Yes, Ma'am" Arke replied and began to start up her control sequence. "Gangways retracted. Dock control reports we are clear to depart" Arke reported

"Proceed, Major" Kazli replied. The Major nodded

"Bucking cables detached. Engines powered" Arke said as she guided the ship out of the docking berth.

"We're clear"

"Signal the fleet to engage hyper drive" Kazli ordered

"Aye. Initiating hyper drive in five...four...three...two...one, GO"

Kim watched as the stars around ship angled and went from dots to streams of light around them, rushing past at an incredible speed.


	3. Chapter 3 Engagement

Disclamer: I don't own Kim Possible and any related characters/vehicles/trademarked names to either her or Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles. However most of the cast is of my creation.

**Chapter 3**

**Engagement**

"Grrrrr" Sarah groaned while reading a data pad during dinner with her mother.

"What is it?" Kim asked

"These outscores" Sarah replied "They are pathetic. Especially considering the scores on the ranges for some of these troopers got during basic" Kim took the data pad and read over it, mentally comparing the scores to the ones she had read when she had read over the files for the troopers that had been selected for the squad.

"You want my opinion, Lieutenant?"

"It would be appreciated, General"

"I've found that that scheduled practice can only go so far. On the battlefield, you can't know when the enemy will attack. You just have to be ready at any time and it sounds like these troopers are falling into the standard training pattern. Might be a good idea to break them out of it"

Sarah was dumbstruck. She hadn't considered that option.

"Well, I'll keep that in mind. Thank you, General" she said as she stood up from the table and headed back towards her quarters to get some rest and think about some way to motivate her troopers.

xxxx xxxx

"I'm telling you guys. We got the worst assignment in the entire Mobile Infantry!" Corporal Brad Decly complained "I mean we get to go and guard a new base on the edge of the galaxy where there is no other life and nothing of any threat. I think our time could be better spent on the front lines"

"Front lines of what? No war on right now" Private Anna Theon replied,

"The Front lines of exploring the galaxy, charting new routes and finding new worlds"

"Isn't that what we are already doing?" Corporal Barcel cut in

"Well, not really. We're just going to babysit the eggheads who are gonna be stationed on this base. Ya know, tuck them in at night and read them a story" he made a gesture of rocking a baby in his arms just as Sarah and Megan walked in, most the squad couldn't help but chuckle at him.

"Corporal" Sarah started, seeing as her troopers were having a bit of fun. All the other troopers quickly stood up and came to attention.

Brad turned right around, stood at attention and looked down into the face of his C.O. "If you'd like to be a breeder, you'll have to apply for the permit" she said with a bit of sarcastic wit.

Looking around the room at the faces of her soldiers, Sarah slowly walked forward in front of them, to the other side of the room.

"Now, I understand that some or even most of you believe that this mission is quite possibly the most boring assignment you could possibly get. I'm here to tell you otherwise." she reached over to Megan, who handed her a data pad "The reason that we are going to study this planet is because the eggheads at R&D think they've found something that might provide the fleet with a better power source for our cruisers" she let the pad fall to her side "If it pans out, it might be the end of having to spend weeks at hyper-speeds just to get from one side of the galaxy to the other. Think of it as the most important science project that you will ever be a part..." She had no time to finish as the ship alarms went off.

Stepping over to the comm, she hit the transmit button.

"Command, this is Lieutenant Stoppable. What is going on?" she asked.

"This is Commander Kazli, we have a problem on level Sixteen, section Foxtrot"

"What kind of problem? Mechanical or otherwise?"

"Code Delta-Niner kind of problem" the commander said over the comm

"Understood. We shall deal with it" Sarah said and stepped back from the comm

"L.T. what is it?" Corporal Zelna asked in her distinct Russian accent

"Code Delta-niner means we have saboteurs aboard" Sarah replied and headed towards the door "Gear up. We're going in. Weapons locker in three" she said and walked out.

xxxx xxxx

All decked out in their dark green power suits, Sahara squad gathered around the table in the armoury.

"ALRIGHT! LISTEN UP!" Sarah barked "We are going in weapons hot, but we are using trank rifles because we don't want to punch a hole in the ship by accident. Now, the saboteurs are located here" she pointed to a holo-image of the ship "We assume their goal is Auxiliary control. They're surrounded by security personnel forward of Section Delta. Security forces doesn't have the firepower to take them on, that's where we come in. We go in and take them down. They'll have to stay in the brig until we reach our destination. For now we go in. CLEAR?"

"SIR, YES SIR!" they all responded in unison

"Very well. Sergeant Shelis, move 'em out" Sarah ordered and walked out of the locker

"MOVE IT!" Megan ordered as the troopers filed out into the corridor in the teams they had just been assigned.

xxxx

Coming up on Section Echo, Sarah gave the command to walk. One of the Security officers greeted her.

"Lieutenant Stoppable, Airman Keri" he saluted. Sarah returned it.

"What do you know?" she asked

"Not much. We have all exits out of Section Delta secured, but we don't risk venturing in. We don't have Power Suits like you guys"

"Thank you, Airman. Keep the exits secure, my team will pursue and engage"

"Best of luck" Keri said and keyed in the code to open the hatch "Be careful, the lights are out in the forward sections"

"Understood. Alright troopers, anything beyond this point consider to be hostile. Clear?"

"SIR, YES SIR!" they replied

"Outstanding. Teams of two. Shelis with Wretz are team two. Decley with Howard are team three. Zelna with Barcel are team four. Theon, you're with me. We're team one.

"Lieutenant?"

"Yes, Airman?"

"You should also know they have several hostages, the General included" he said. Sarah's eyes widened and she looked towards the door

"Move out!" Sarah yelled and raised her weapon, walking forwards.

xxxx

Following the signal to split off, Corporals Zelna and Barcel moved into the corridor on their left, weapons at the ready.

"I wonder how saboteurs got aboard" Barcel whispered to Zelna

"Does it really matter?" Zelna replied

"I guess not. But fleet security should be able to catch this. I didn't even know we had human enemies"

"Me either. But I guess there will always be adversaries" Zelna finished, swinging her weapon around a corner "Clear"

"Clear" Barcel echoed, looking around another corner.

xxxx

Sarah waved her right hand to the left, Megan and Jason broke off from the main group, heading down the left corridor on an alternate route to Aux Control.

Down the hall they moved, corridor after corridor, their weapons steady.

"SERGEANT" Jason called and pulled Megan down behind some crates.

"Private, what was that about?" Megan asked and tried to stand up. As her head came up a spark and a bang bounced off the crate near her head.

"Good call, Private"

"Ain't nothing" Jason replied, grabbing a flashlight from the belt pouch and putting it on top of the crate.

"What are you doing?" Megan asked

"Blinding them. Can you turn that on, Ma'am?" Jason asked back, Megan pressed the switch and ducked down, illuminating the corridor. Several shots rang out towards them, all missed.

Jason, laying on his stomach on the deck was looking through his rifle scope

"Gotcha" he said and pulled the trigger twice. Two thuds followed shortly after.

"Nice shot" Megan said, lowering her visor and scanning the forward area "No more hostiles" she reported and hit her comm

"Lieutenant, two hostiles neutralized"

"Understood. Tag them and keep moving" Sarah ordered

"Copy that. Shelis out" Megan closed the comm

"That was too easy" Jason commented suspiciously

"Let's move" Megan said and walked around the corner.

xxxx

"Lieutenant, this is Corporal Decly, we are fifty meters outside of Aux Control. requesting orders" Brad asked over the comm. Before Sarah could reply, the glass that was on the door to Aux control shattered and several shots flew past his head. Whether they were trank rounds or real bullets, he couldn't tell, but her instincts took over and he dove for cover behind an exposed bulkhead, hitting his comm

"LIEUTENANT! This is Corporal Decly"

"Go ahead, Corporal"

"Hostiles spotted. They're taking potshots at us from behind the door to Aux control!"

"Understood. We're just about on top of Aux control. Hold tight"

"Copy" he replied and fired several rounds into the door. Whether he actually hit anything, he had no idea, since whenever he looked around the corner, he almost took a hit. _Damn these guys are good shots_ he thought and put another couple through the hole in the glass. He pulled back behind the bulkhead, thankful for the military protocol of "function over form"

"Let's see if we can't get a better idea of what we are dealing with" Decly said, flipping down his visor

"What are you doing?" Michael said

"Recording. Cover me" he ordered

"Aye" Micheal replied and fired several shots around the corner.

Curled up, Brad rolled across the deck, his visor pointed at Aux Control.

"What was the point of that?" Michael asked

"Video" Brad answered, his visor still down as he watched the replay "Alright, ten degrees up at your five o'clock is a baddie. Aim and fire" Brad ordered

"Copy" Michael replied, moving out and firing before retreating into cover "Got 'em!"

"Nice shot"

xxxx

Sarah and Anna moved along the corridor, weapons hoisted. Corridor after corridor they passed with no signs of the enemy.

"Lieutenant" Anna said

"What is it, Private?"

"We should go this way"

"Private, Auxiliary control is this way" Sarah pointed down the corridor

"But there is a secondary entrance to Aux Control this way. Through a maintenance corridor. It's not well known. There is a chance the sabs don't know about it" Anna said. Sarah thought for a second and hit her comm link

"All teams, report status" she ordered.

"Team two, moving on Aux control" Megan replied

"Team three holding outside Aux control. Taking fire" Brad reported

"Team four encountering resistance, but moving towards the objective. Two minutes" Zelna reported

"I'm going to be delayed. Group up and comm when ready to move on target"

"Understood" Megan replied

"Copy that" Brad replied

"Aye, Lieutenant" Zelna replied. Sarah clicked the comm link off and looked at Anna

"Lead on, Private" Sarah said

"Aye, Lieutenant" Anna replied

xxxx

Rounding a corner, Megan moved in on Brad and Michael

"Report, Private" she ordered

"Several hostiles in Aux Control. But they haven't made a move inside yet"

"Hmm, what are they waiting for?" Megan questioned

"Something doesn't add up" Zelna said, coming around the corner "They should have been able to get the drop on the ship and take it out before we could blink"

"Yeah, they've had all the time in the world to get into Aux Control. The sabs we encountered were taken down way too easily" Barcel said. Megan was about to add a bit when the comm link beeped

"Sergeant, report" Sarah barked

"We're hold outside of Aux Control, but something doesn't seem right" Megan replied.

"Stow the chatter, Sergeant. We have a mission to complete" Sarah replied

"Yes Ma'am" Megan replied

"I want you to breach in five minutes from my mark. Mark"

"Copy that. We're ready"

"Don't wait for my signal. When the timer reaches zero, you go. Until I contact you, maintain radio silence"

"Understood Lieutenant" Megan replied and closed the link

xxxx

"Corporal Zelna, take point and cover us. We are going to approach them. Hold your fire until I give the signal. Clear?" Megan ordered as the troopers moved into position

"Da, Sergeant" the Corporal replied and moved ahead of the troopers, being careful to conceal her approach to the access door to Aux control.

"Decly, cover her" Megan ordered

"Ten four" Brad replied and checked over his weapon. Megan checked her timer, it read zero ten seconds.

When the clock reached zero, Megan looked up

"Move it. Open fire!" she ordered. Zelna and Brad opened up with their weapons, firing blindly down the hallway. Return shots bounced of the crates, creating sparks

"Theon, Wretz, advance!" Megan instructed. The two troopers began to crawl underneath all the fire, their helmet lights off.

After the agonizingly long crawl, they reached the next corridor and nodded towards Megan. Her comm link crackled to life

"Making final move on Aux Control. Prepare to provide cover" came a voice on the comm that sounded like Sarah's

"Understood. Providing fire support" Megan replied "Wait, something is wrong"

"They've stopped firing" Zelna pointed out

"Move in, move in, move in!" Megan ordered, moving quickly towards Aux Control.

She burst in and fired several rounds, taking down several enemies just as a side door opened and Sarah walked through

"Lieutenant?"

"I'll explain later. Secure the room" Sarah ordered

"You heard the Lieutenant, full sweep!" Megan echoed. The troopers began to move around the control station, weapons drawn

"LIEUTENANT!" Zelna called out. Sarah walked over.

Kim was tied down to a chair. Or, at least that was how it seemed to Sarah when she walked over. Kim stood up before anyone could get to where she was. Out of suspicion, Megan raised her weapon.

"There is no need for that, Sergeant" Kim said

"None at all" Kazli said, emerging from the corridor

"Wait, I'm confused" Anna stated

"This was a training exercise" Kim said "And you preformed it splendidly"

"But you never said you were going to be in this, General" Sarah said

"Rules of war, Lieutenant. You went in knowing what to expect. I added myself as a variable to enhance the training" Kim stated and went over the console, pressing a few buttons. The lights all came back on.

xxxx xxxx

Two days later.

Sarah, along with her mother stood on the command deck of the _Allegiance_, waiting as the fleet finished the final few light years towards the coordinates for Alpha-Seven-Zero, the planet's military designation

"Ma'am, we've arrived at the coordinates" pilot April Arke reported to the commander

"Very well, Major. Drop us out of hyperspace" Kazli ordered

"Aye, commander" the Major replied and went about her task.

Sarah watched the stars outside the window of the bridge slowed down and went from being lines of light to just white dots against the black of space. It was an incredible sight. Sarah could feel the inertial dampeners and artificial gravity hold her from being thrown out the main window.

"Ma'am..." Arke reported, turning around in her chair "...The fleet has exited hyperspace and are reporting full readiness"

"Thank you, Major" Kazli replied and faced forward "Contact the _Valkyrie_ and have her begin dropping scout..."

"Ma'am?" Akre interrupted

"What, Major?"

"I'm detecting energy coming from the planet, trace amounts, but still, they shouldn't be there"

"What are you talking about, Major?"

"Ma'am, I..." Arke didn't have time to reply before, out of the corner of everyone's eye, the _Independence_ exploded. Tearing the ship in half before the primary reactor detonated and destroyed what remained. Kazli whirled around to face the Major

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?" she demanded. Arke turned around, her face white as a sheet

"You are not going to believe this, Ma'am"

"Believe what?" Kazli barked.

"I'm detecting, Ma'am..."

"Detecting what, Major? Tell me" Kazli ordered. Arke couldn't speak, her face was frozen with fear. Sarah could only imagine what it was, seeing as a perfectly fine star ship had just blown to pieces for no apparent reason.

"Detecting what, Major? Tell me" Kazli ordered. Arke gulped and spat it out

"Arachnid life signs, Ma'am. The energy I detected was a Plasma Bug discharge" she said with nothing but pure fear and terror in her voice.

It took a moment for everyone to realize what the Major had just said. Once it hit, the reaction was almost instant.

"EVASIVE MANOUVERS!" Kazli ordered "GET US OUT OF THE SYSTEM!" Everyone scurried around in a frenzy, taking at each other and getting preparations in order

"Aye, commander" Major Arke replied and sat back down in her seat, attempting to move the ship around. Kazli turned to Kim

"I thought the bugs were extinct?"

"So did I. And we can't verify what is going on here right now. We have to retreat" Kim said, looking straight out the main window, into the debris field that had been the Independence, a stern look on her face to mask her fear. A mask only a seasoned military veteran like Kazli could see through.

"I agree" Kazli said "Anytime, Major"

"Ma'am, the hyper drive won't engage. The computer says we're in a gravity well, but the sensors detect nothing

"The _Independence_ was carrying the base supplies including the reactor. If that went up, then it would..." Kim never finished her thought.

A plasma blast tore through the starboard engine of the _Allegiance_, she quickly lost all manoeuvrability and began to descend to the planet below. Arke fought to regain at least some control over the ship. Sarah held onto whatever she could find. Gripping on for her life, never being as scared as she was right now. Kim did the same, only she also tried to reach the rear elevator, in an attempt to make her way deeper into the ship.

"INTERTIAL DAMPENERS OFFLINE!" Arke yelled. Kazli reached for the ship wide comm

"ALL HANDS BRACE FOR PLANETARY IMPACT!" she yelled as the surface grew ever closer.

Sarah swore that her eyes were melting into her skull. It was so painful, like nothing she had felt before. Pinned to the deck, she attempted to right herself.

Grunting, Arke reached over for the engine control, attempting to dial up the port engines.

It worked. The ship began to stop spinning. Then the Port engine overheated due to stress on the support pylon. It quickly burned up and exploded, rocking the ship even more and throwing those who were still standing to their feet.

"I'VE LEVELED US OUT..." she yelled over the noise of re-entry "...BUT WE NO LONGER HAVE ANY KIND OF CONTROL OVER MANOUVERS!" Not sure if anyone heard her, she tried desperately looking over her console, but no ideas to right the ship came to her, she had nothing to work with. Nothing despite the anti-grav thrusters, but they were only meant to maintain orbit in conjunction with the main booster engines. And even if they could work, they were losing power fast. But seeing as they were going to lose anyway, she maxed out the power for the thrusters.

Commander Kazli pulled herself over on her chair and hit the comm button, activating the ship-wide comm

Sarah had managed to stagger to her feet, for a second anyway, then the G-Forces had pulled her down again. She was glad her power suit amplified strength, or she would have been pinned completely to the deck like several other crew members. She struggled over to the commander's chair and everything went dark.


	4. Chapter 4 Stranded and Crippled

Disclamer: I don't own Kim Possible and any related characters/vehicles/trademarked names to either her or Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles. However most of the cast is of my creation.

**Chapter 4**

**Stranded and Crippled**

Sarah awoke, her head spinning. Luckily, her power suit had taken the brunt of whatever she had slammed into when the ship crashed. Her head hurt. Really hurt. Her body felt like it had been smashed fifty different ways without breaking any bones, then someone had broken every bone in her body and ground her into a pulp. As she took a breath, she realized that she could taste blood. She coughed twice and groaned. Moving any muscle in her body led to extreme pain and agony the like she had never experienced.

She lifted her head up and opened her eyes. Her head felt like it had been cracked open and the ringing in her ears still hadn't stopped. She looked around. The main window on the bridge was in pieces. Bodies of several crewmen were lay on the deck. She was unsure if any of them had survived. She quickly thanked whatever had been watching over her for letting her survive.

Summoning every ounce of strength she had left, she tried to stand up. She managed to lift her arms and chest off the deck, but her legs wouldn't go anywhere. She looked back and realized that her left leg was pinned under a fallen bulkhead. She felt it. Then shrieked. It definitely felt shattered.

Kim was having an easier time. Her efforts to get to the lift had paid off. She awoke lying against the door. She blinked and tried to get to her feet. Her forehead felt funny and when she ran her hand through her hair, a small amount of blood got on her hand _Guess I was lucky to survive that_ she thought to herself. Then quickly realized that she might have internal injuries, but that would have to wait.

Standing up, Kim could see movement and stumbled over to see who had survived. To her relief, it was Sarah.

"Lieutenant, you okay?" Kim asked

"I'm fine. I think my leg is broken though" Sarah replied through clenched teeth.

"I'll see if I can find a med kit" Kim said and stood up. _Pretty spry for a forty five year old_ Sarah though, looking at her mother. Kim took a second to stand in front of where Commander Kazli's chair had been and look out of where the main window had been.

The surface seemed to stretch on forever. It looked like it had been a desert landscape, though now it seemed to be covered in debris and impact craters. Her attention was drawn away as she heard movement. Kim looked over and saw Kazli trying to get herself back on her feet. She failed several times before Kim finally helped her up

"There you go" Kim said as she helped the commander to sit back down, but upright this time.

"How many did we lose?" Kazli asked out of instinct

"I don't know. As far as I know, for now we are it" Kim sighed as she looked around the bridge, seeing if anyone else was moving. She could see no one.

With a sigh, Kim went back to looking for a med kit, searching through fallen debris, hoping that at least one of the bridge med kits was still intact and stocked. Kim was no doctor, but she did have basic field training, so it would have to do.

"HERE!" Commander Kazli called out as she managed to fish a med kit out of the rubble that had been her bridge. Kim rushed over and helped the commander pull the case out. It was scratched and dented, but still bore the white medical corps insignia proudly over it's bright red surface.

Approaching Sarah, Kim heard a clanking sound coming from behind the door. She quickly remembered that they had been shot down by the bugs, but tried to keep her cool

"We have any weapons up here?" Kim asked Kazli

"Unless you count a fire extinguisher"

"No. I don't"

"Then no" Kazli replied

Sarah panicked as she could do nothing to protect herself when the bugs came through the door. But something struck her as odd, with the front window smashed, they should've heard warrior cries from afar. The fact that they heard none was slightly odd for her.

The door began to open, obviously being forced. It finally opened, with Corporals Zelna and Decly struggling to keep it open against the door locking systems

"Here!" Jason said as he handed her a beam that had fallen from the roof. Anna moved to help him, placing the beam at the top of the door and letting the door slide into it, jamming it open.

Megan stepped through the door, looking at the surprised faces of General Stoppable and Commander Kazli. She saluted her commanding officers, then noticed Sarah trapped under the debris.

"Zelna, Decly, Barcel, help me with this" she ordered and began to lift up the debris with the help of Kim and the commander.

Sarah was soon free, and sitting up against a bulkhead.

"Oh, that feels better" she remarked and looked at Barcel, who was looking over her leg "How is it, Corporal?" she asked. Barcel looked up and sighed

"Well, it's a bad fracture. It needs a med tank. That would be an almost instant heal. Without it's going to be at least a month"

"Can you give me something for now?" Sarah ashed

"I could numb the pain and augment your power suit. But the damage would still be there"

"Please do" Sarah ordered

"Do we have a tank?" Kim asked

"Don't know. We didn't go by med bay on the way up here" she replied "But based on the ship, if we did have a working med tank, then I'd say we were damned lucky.

"Most of the ship is scrap" Zelna said "We didn't go through all of it, but the fact that we had to go outside of the hull to get partway here has to say something about it's condition"

"Yes, I guess it does" Kim said

"Good thing this rock has a breathable atmosphere" Decly commented

"Question is, how did you survive and where is Private Howard?" Sarah asked as she tried to reposition herself to ease the pain she had sitting as she was. Megan sighed

"We were in the gym storage, getting out some equipment when we were hit, not sure what by, but the ship rocked and we were thrown off of our feet"

"Then we heard the commander's announcement over the comm and grabbed all the gym mats to cover ourselves. I guess it saved us" Anna finished

"Still got a few bruises from those things" Jason pointed out

"Alright. But Private Howard?" Kim asked

"He, decided that he could make it up here. We didn't see him on our way up" Barcel said with a sigh

"Alright, we should start..." Sarah started but was interrupted by the screech of an Arachnid Warrior from over the rise. Everyone's eyes immediately widened in fear. After all, the only two people in the room who had ever actually faced the bugs in actual combat before were General Stoppable and Commander Kazli, but that had been over two decades ago.

"General?" Sarah asked. Kim narrowed her eyes.

"That's them" She turned to Megan "How many others did you pass on the way up here that were alive?"

"Five, maybe Six others, but we were only six decks down. Not far. So I don't know how many are left and I don't have my helmet visor"

"Fair enough. Corporal Barcel, give me your weapon. Sergeant, give your weapon to my daughter. Then assume temporary command of the squad and go out, find your gear and anyone who might be left and bring them here. From there we will formulate a plan. Do I make myself clear?" Kim asked.

"Crystal, General" Megan saluted

"Good. Get going"

"Yes, Ma'am" Megan replied and handed her weapon over to Sarah, who primed it.

Megan and the rest of the Strikers moved out towards the elevator. As they left, Kim heard some debris moving and immediately trained her weapon on it. The debris was shaken to the side and up stood Major April Arke. She stumbled and fell back down, but made her way over to where Kim, Sarah and Kazli were standing.

"General, Commander, how are we?" she asked, grasping on her left arm in pain. She could tell that it was broken

"Fine. For the moment we are fine" Kazli replied

"But soon to be overrun by a force of warriors" Kim replied, trying not to be overly dramatic.

xxxx

"So what are we doing again?" Brad asked Megan

"Finding anyone else who might have survived" she replied. They were walking along the corridor, towards the locker room where their gear was stored, hoping that some of it was still intact.

"We might want to grab some med supplies" Barcel suggested as they passed a corridor that led to the med lab

"Good idea, Corporal. But we grab our gear first. We will come back this way and take a quick stock of what might be left" Megan said

"Sergeant, I know med lab, I spent over a year in one. I know it like the back of my hand. I know where and what everything is. Give me Wertz and we can go take stock while you grab the gear" Barcel suggested. Megan thought for a second

"Very well. Go and do a stock. Private Wertz, go with her" Megan ordered

"Aye, Sergeant" Jason said and began to walk off with Barcel.

"Let's keep moving" Megan said, her sidearm drawn.

xxxx

"Here we are, Med lab" Barcel said aloud. "Help me get this door open" she asked Jason. He dropped his weapon and helped her pull the door apart

"Rrrgh, it's stuck" Jason grunted

"Pull. Harder" Barcel said, summoning all of her strength. The door finally began to open and with a final tug, it slid all the way open, throwing Barcel back. Jason reached out a hand to help her up

"You okay?"

"Nothing a hot bath wouldn't cure" she replied as she walked through the door.

"Anything we can use?" Jason asked

"Not really" she replied, going through the drawers "I'm seeing some stuff that isn't shattered. But sterilization seals have been broken, which makes them useless"

"How so?"

"Medical supplies are clean sterilized, as to prevent infectious diseases from transferring to the patient from any number of sources. With the seals broken, I can't guarantee that this stuff is safe to use"

"Isn't it better than nothing?"

"If it starts giving infections, then no. Nothing would be better" she replied. "I wonder"

"What?" Jason asked as she walked over to the steel door behind the Chief Medical Officer's quarters

"What's this?"

"Med vault. Where all the valuable drugs and treatments are stored. As well as reserves of everything out here. What's out here is found in every med kit" she answered as she tried to pry the door open, to no avail

"Here" Jason said and fired his Morita laser at the door, cutting through it.

It fell to the deck with a resounding thud and Barcel walked through.

"Jackpot" she said, rooting through the cases "Here, holster your weapon and carry this back up to command" she said, handing him a large case and picking up another herself.

xxxx

Headed towards the locker room, the remainder of Sahara squad wandered through the corridor, stepping over fallen debris and the bodies of fallen troopers and officers.

"Man, this is hard to take in. I never signed up to go through this" Anna stated

"It is the reality of war. We must accept what has happened and..." Zelna started, but didn't finish as the floor beneath her collapsed and she fell through.

"WHOA!" Megan put her hands out to her sides to prevent anyone from falling down after Zelna.

Luckily, she didn't fall far. She fell right onto several sheets of metal and rolled down to the deck floor, slightly dazed and shocked

"CORPORAL! ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?" Megan shouted down into the hole.

Zelna groaned, trying to get back on her feet. Luckily she didn't feel too much pain, and what she did feel, she could handle.

"I'M ALL RIGHT!" she shouted back up with a wave to confirm it. Megan waved back down

"WE WILL COME AND GET YOU!" Megan shouted down. Zelna was about to respond, when she heard movement coming from behind some metal sheets. She waved up at the Sergeant and then pulled a fist, signalling silence required and raised her rifle, though without her helmet and by extension, her headlamp, she could barely see, but kept going nonetheless.

She rounded a corner, expecting to find a pack of warrior bugs, but instead she laid eyes on several S.I.C.O.N. troopers, clad in dark green power suits and what looked to be several support personnel behind them.

"Corporal Tamona Zelna, Sahara Squad" She saluted

"Lieutenant Lucas Cosan, Echo Squad. This is Sergeant Jessica Kuts, Corporal Nick Loke and Private Ila Khuy and Private Lei Yui" the man replied and returned the salute "Where is your C.O. Corporal?"

"On the command deck, sir, with Commander Kazli and General Stoppable"

"The General is alive?"

"Yes, sir. She up on the command deck with Lieutenant Stoppable and Commander Kazli"

"Good, that'll boost some moral among the survivors. We're all that's left."

"I will tell the Lieutenant" she said and walked over to under where she had fallen. Quickly, her helmet fell down to near where she stood. She quickly put it on and hit her comm

"That's better" she said

"Report, Corporal" Megan ordered

"This is Lieutenant Cosan. I have all the remaining survivors with me in the main cargo bay. We are all alive and with only bumps and bruises" he interrupted

"Copy, sir" Megan said. She was about to say something else when another voice cut in over the channel

"Lieutenant Cosan, this is General Stoppable"

"Ma'am, are you all right?"

"I'm fine. How intact is the cargo bay?"

"It seems fine" he replied. One of the crew stepped towards the Lieutenant

"Sir, if I may?" he asked

"Of course" Cosan said and handed the man his helmet

"General Stoppable?"

"Yes? Who is this?"

"Crew Chief Max Cical, Ma'am. I can say that the cargo bay is intact and structurally sound right now"

"That's good to hear, Chief. How about the cargo?"

"Also in decent condition"

"Chief, how well would the cargo bay's hull hold up to say an Arachnid Warrior?" Kim asked. Max took a second to think about it

"Well, Ma'am, I would think it would hold up fairly well under optimal conditions, but for now, it should do well. May I ask why, Ma'am?"

"Not right now. Please put Lieutenant Cosan back on"

"Yes, Ma'am" he said and handed Lucas back his helmet

"Ma'am?"

"Lieutenant, we need an encampment set up in the cargo bay, complete with fortifications and everything. We need a base in there"

"Ma'am?"

"I can spot a battalion of arachnid warriors coming over the horizon, Lieutenant. Can you do it?"

"Yes, Ma'am. In moments"

"Good"

"Ma'am?"

"What?"

"What about the main cargo door? It still has a couple vehicles ready to go. It will not be as secure as the rest of the hull"

"Weld it shut, but weld remote explosives into it, so if we need to get out in a hurry, we can"

"Yes, Ma'am"

"And one more thing"

"Yes?"

"Send two of your troopers up to the command deck. My daughter is wounded"

"Right away, Ma'am"

"Good. Oh, and Lieutenant?"

"Yes Ma'am?"

"Have your troopers bring up a portable, remote sensor and visual scanner set with a mobile drone launcher"

"Yes, General"

"Very good. General Stoppable out" Kim said and patched herself through to the remainder of the Strikers

"Sergeant Shelis?"

"Ma'am?"

"Proceed to the weapons lockers, grab everything you can carry and bring it to the main cargo bay. As well as any and all other supplies you can find. Food, medicine. Anything"

"Yes, Ma'am"

"Good. We will be down shortly. Stoppable out" Kim closed the link

"Corporal Barcel, did you copy that?" Megan asked

"Loud and clear, Sarge. Med-vault is intact. I could use some help moving supplies to the cargo bay"

"Understood" Megan said "Howard, Theon, Decly, go assist Barcel" she ordered

"Nick, Ila, you go along as well" Cosan ordered

"Sir" they replied and ran out with the other troopers in tow.

xxxx xxxx

It took some time, longer than Kim wanted, but they eventually got Sarah down to the main cargo bay and in a decent resting position which gave Barcel time to look over the rest of the personnel, seeing as she was now the _ranking_ medical officer. Fortunately, during her inventory of the med vault supplies, she had come across several canisters of the healing fluid and was using one of them on Sarah's leg. The rest of her was, thankfully, not too badly bruised. The remainder of the crew injuries ranged from broken bones to light bruising for a lucky few.

Kim walked into the cargo bay, flanked by two troopers, one from Lieutenant Cosan's squad, the other from Sarah's squad.

"Seal the doors" Kim ordered and the two troopers went to work dropping the overly heavy door down over the passage. The main door had collapsed, so one had been jury-rigged in its place as quickly as possible and the timing turned out to be right.

"Can I have your attention, please?" Kim said clearly. All the troopers, officers and crew of the formerly glorious ship looked at her. Most of them had cuts and bruises on their bodies. Some had makeshift casts that were still being looked at by Barcel. Others, like Sarah were sitting back, waiting for parts of themselves to heal, but still trying to do what they can. But there were no dead persons in the room, nothing of that sort. The only ones that had died, had died when the ship was hit and when the ship hit the ground. None had died of injuries.

"I just looked at the proxy sensors, they show a force of warriors approaching rapidly" that struck some nerves among the troopers and officers "There is one thing I want you all to remember, you are the best. Not because you've been in the service for the longest or you are the bravest. You are the best because you survived against all the odds. You survived the crashing of this ship onto a hostile world" she sighed, knowing what she was about to say would most likely hurt the morale she had just boosted "However, we do not know when or even if help will be arriving. All we can do is hold out and hope that someone will come and rescue us" she finished and looked around the small, cramped room at the faces of those looking to her for moral support. She did her best to hold the one face that gave no one any reading of what emotion she was trying to convey or feeling at the time. It was her "poker face" and she held it well. She huffed up and clicked her brain into combat mode

"But it doesn't matter. We get out of this one of two ways. We either get rescued, or we die. Which one doesn't matter. Either way we fight like troopers until the last one of us has fallen, we drive the enemy off or the rescue boat lands. We didn't let these bastards beat us before and we sure as hell won't this time. YOU GET ME APES?" she barked. All personnel, save for the ones who could barely stand, rose to their feet and came to attention

"SIR, YES SIR!" they replied in unison and Kim knew that it was a good sign, a sign that she had gotten to them and boosted their morale.

"Very well. LOCK AND LOAD! DEFENSIVE POSITIONS!"

"OORAH!" They shouted and began to move

"You still got it" Kazli commented. Kim smirked.


	5. Chapter 5 Hold the Line

Disclamer: I don't own Kim Possible and any related characters/vehicles/trademarked names to either her or Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles. However most of the cast is of my creation.

**Chapter 5**

**HOLD THE LINE**

"We hold fire until they are on top of us" Kim said, detailing her battle plan "I've been informed that one of the ship's guns is still online. I need four volunteers to man it" she offered. Many stepped forward, offering themselves. Even Sarah volunteered "Alright, Sergeant Kuts, you command the gunners, Corporal Decly and Private Khuy go with them" Kim picked her four troopers

"General?" one of the deck crew, Jen Gatros stepped forward

"Yes?"

"I'd like to go with them, Ma'am" she said

"May I ask why?"

"There may be mechanical problems within the guns. I've spent time fixing them. I know how they work like just as much as you know how to fire a rifle"

"She's right, General" Max Cical stepped in "She's spent more time in those guns then anyone who I've got left" he said. Kim thought for a minute

"Good enough. Go" she said and nodded towards the inner door "Alright, lets go over the plan" she had managed to cobble together a small model of the ship and the immediate area. "The only place we can be is either the turret of here in the cargo bay. Once the attack ends, we can go about securing more of the ship" she continued

"General?" one of the deck crew, Crewman Jeff Wetl spoke up

"Yes?"

"How do we know they will give up?" he asked with some concern in his voice. Kim thought for a second

"Truth is, we don't. But remember, I fought these pests in the war, I know how they work to some degree" she paused and stood up fully "We know the bugs operate as a hive mind, due to fact that the brains and the queen are psychic, therefore, logic says that there is another queen nearby. The bugs will attack us without relent until one side falls. And that side will not be us" she took a breath "However, there will be delays in the waves that reach us, especially if they face resistance such as our heavy ship cannon"

"General, that's not a heavy cannon" Fleet Major Cassia Uitol pointed out "It's a light ship-to-ship cannon"

"Against ground targets, it's a heavy cannon" Kim corrected her and continued "We will have some time to catch our breath though it will not be much" she turned to the deck chief, Max Cical "Chief, what can we use to reinforce the ship? We want to secure as much of the ship as possible" he thought for a moment and looked around, then up at the building supplies

"Bugs would've had a hard time tearing through the hull, if it was intact..."

"...Which it isn't?"

"Right. But if we can weld parts from these walls onto the corridors, we could, theoretically, create a stable blockade"

"What would it hold up against?"

"Basic warriors, I assume"

"What about Tankers? Plasmas?"

"Not a chance"

"And workers?"

"Unlikely, but if we reinforce it, it might hold off one"

"Good enough. Take two troopers and your crew and get on that. We need to be as secure as possible" Kim ordered as her wrist computer beeped "Alright, LISTEN UP! Bugs have reached the outer perimeter and you all know what that means"

"YOU HEARD THE GENERAL! " Sarah barked as she tried her best to stay standing behind Kim

"SIR, YES SIR!" the troopers and officers came to attention and replied with enthusiasm

"DISMISSED!" Kim said and turned to Sarah "You okay?"

"Ready to do my part, General" she replied, hoisting her weapon

"Very well, Hotshot. I need you in the nest. Snipe them from long range"

"The nest, General?" Kim pointed up towards a hole in the hull where a mounted cannon was and one of the troopers, helmet read "Parks", was loading the ammo

"Take them down, Lieutenant" Kim said tossing Sarah a specially modified sniper rifle. She caught it and began to limp over to the ladder.

"General" Corporal Nick Loke saluted Kim

"Yes, Corporal?" Kim returned the salute

"Gunners report cannon armed and ready, Ma'am"

"First good news I've had all day. Do we have a comm link?"

"Yes, General"

"Good" Kim placed her hand on her comm link "Gunners, come in"

"Gunner One, Sergeant Kuts here General"

"Are you ready?"

"Crewman Gatros has made some final adjustments to the guns, but we are ready to fire on your order"

"Sergeant, I trust your judgement. Fire at will"

"Aye, Ma'am" she replied and cut the link.

"Alright, let's hit it" Kuts said "FIRE!"

Nothing happened.

"I said FIRE!"

Still nothing.

"What's wrong?" Kuts asked

"Must be a problem with the wiring" Gatros said, sliding herself underneath a panel.

xxxx

"BUUUUUGS!" one of the troopers shouted out as he saw that the Arachnid Warriors were getting ever closer. _Haven't heard that in a long time_ Kim thought as she put on her visor, that tied in to the visual sensor mounted on the top of the ship, and sure enough, the bugs were in weapons range and closing fast. She nearly smashed her comm link as she activated it

"FIRE AT WILL" she ordered and linked up with the cannon as the sound of rifle fire filled the compartment

"Why haven't you fired yet?" she demanded. Sergeant Kutz came over the comm

"In a moment, General. We're having a problem with the delivery system. It's a good thing we brought crewman Gatros with us"

"Just fire Sergeant. The second you can"

"Aye, General" and the link was cut.

Sarah was lying down in "The Nest" with her visor down and her speciality rifle out and firing through a crack in the main hull. Most of her shots hit their mark, clipping off limbs here and then, some hitting the nerve cluster and killing the warrior instantly. She tried her best to keep her focus on the battle here and now and not on her broken leg, which hurt oh so much.

The majority of personnel were huddled around the centre of the cargo bay while a select few shot out of small cracks in the hull. Not for a lack of rifles, there were plenty, but for trying to conserve ammo and personnel as much as possible.

xxxx

"COME ON!" Kutz barked "We need this gun operational ten minutes ago!"

"I'M DONE! It's warming up now" Crewman Gatros said as she slid out from under the panel

"Good" Kutz said as she sat down in the gun commander's chair "FIRE!"

Shells left the cannon's gun barrels and landed smack on their targets. Due the the ship not being in space, the gun's targeting system wasn't needed, just angle adjustments to compensate for any changes in enemy movements.

Shell after shell left the gun, each one tearing apart many bugs when it landed. So many, in fact that the once peaceful landscape was becoming littered with Warrior carcases. Some with merely puncture holes, others torn completely apart by the force of the impact.

xxxx

Sarah had never been more glad to have taken the extra sniping classes in OCS than she was right now. Several shots away, each one hitting their intended target. Another couple away, they missed. What Sarah didn't see was several warriors that had managed to work their way up to the ship's hull and had begun to climb up it.

The next thing she knew, her weapon was snatched out of her hands and thrown away from her, out into the sea of oncoming warriors

"AAUUGH" she recoiled quickly, forgetting all about her injured leg. Putting some weight on it hurt, but the troopers next to her, Private Parks, turned his emplacement gun around and put several shots into the abdomen of the warriors. It fell however far down it was to the ground below.

"Thanks" she said and pulled her primary rifle from off of her pack.

"No problem" the trooper replied and continued to let loose rounds from his emplacement

xxxx

While her troopers were defending the ship, Kim was deep in thought, staring at a holo-map of the area, with the crashed ship was present on the image. Across the table, Commander Kazli stared at the same image. What was worrying her was that though everyone had been well trained, none of them were combat vets. Never even really seeing any action before this, other than the required combat scenarios during boot, as far as she could remember. She forced herself to recall that she had once been the same. A fresh recruit, right out of boot camp thrown into a galactic war with little to no experience. She tried to convince herself it had been different for her, but was quite unable to do so.

"General?" one of the troopers came up to her

"What is it?" Kim asked in a stern, yet gentle and reassuring tone

"We have a problem" he said

"What now?" she sighed and followed him

xxxx

More shells left the cannon, each one flying high and fast and striking their target with deadly accuracy, tearing warrior after warrior apart and scattering over the landscape.

"Keep firing!" Sergeant Kutz ordered and adjusted the weapon's angle, aiming it slightly upwards. She then turned to Crewman Gatros

"How are we for ammo?"

"Well, since none of the other guns are online, I could think that..."

"How much?" Kutz said sternly,

"Another couple dozen rounds in this magazine, thirty shells tops. I don't know for sure"

"Can we get ammo from one of the other guns?"

"We could..."

"That's good to hear"

"...If we could get to the other guns with my gear and then transfer the ammo through the ship to this gun's magazine"

"So what you are saying is no, we can't?"

"I didn't say that at all. I said it was possible. Just not safely doable with all these warriors around" she paused "Besides, to reload the magazine, the gun has to be in safe mode, which it can't be when it is active and firing"

"Okay, so it is doable, we just need to ask the bugs to stop their attack for an hour while we do this"

"I..."

"And maybe while we're at it, we can teach them to tap-dance too"

"Look, I might have a way to buy us some time"

"What is it?"

"You comm link, please" Gatros pointed at the small device on Kutz's suit wrist plate. The trooper unhooked the device and handed it to her

"General?"

"What?"

"This is crewman Gatros"

"What is it, Crewman?"

"Ma'am, the gun we are using is almost out of ammo. These guns were not meant to be used like this"

"You're point?"

"I might be able to move the ammo from the other intact, but non-functional guns to this one's magazine, that would give us another several hundred rounds, but there is a catch"

"The gun needs to be powered down first, right?"

"Yes, Ma'am"

"You fire that gun until you run out of ammo, then you reload it. Clear?"

"Actually, Ma'am,. I had another idea"

"Oh?"

"I was going over system diags and found that one of the missile launchers is still online, just barely so and it is loaded with a Vector Seven missile. The missile, from what I can tell, is fully intact, but the main control mechanism is shot beyond repair. If I could rig a launch control system, we could fire it off and that should keep the bugs away for a half-hour or so, what with the radiation and all"

"Will that be enough time?"

"I don't know"

"It will have to do. Do it, crewman"

"Yes, Ma'am. But there is one more problem..."

"The guidance system is shot, we'll need some way of guiding the missile"

"I have every confidence that you will find a way to do so"

"Yes, Ma'am"

"And put Sergeant Kuts on" Kim ordered, Gatros handed the comm back

"Yes, General?"

"You keep that gun going until the missile impacts. Then you power down and reload. Clear?"

"Yes, General"

"Good. Now, angle your aim to beyond the far ridge and, do you have any fireball rounds?"

"Yes, Ma'am. Three of them"

"One will do. Fire one off over the ridge line"

"General?"

"My scout drones have spotted several plasmas setting up over there. We have no idea if this ship will survive that"

"Aye, General" Kuts replied and closed the link. "YOU HEARD HER!" she ordered and sat back down in her seat to adjust the gun's angle once more. The cannon was normally moved with ease, joysticks were used to move it as it was needed or as the computer tracked targets. Unfortunately, the lack of power to the system meant that a manual angle adjust was the only way. Round selection was barely operational, though the gunnery crew hadn't needed to select rounds, they'd just fired off whatever was next in line.

Brad watched as the shrapnel from a round pierced a group of warriors encroaching towards the ship. The heavy cannon kept working, kept the lines up. The system beeped that a High Explosive Napalm or "fireball" shell was next in line.

"Adjust the sights. Thirty degrees high"

"Aim adjusted" Brad reported

"FIRE!" Kuts ordered and watched as the shell left the barrel, flying high and over the ridge.

She felt the explosion and watched as the blue and red fireball engulfed the area that couldn't be seen

"General, good hit" Kuts reported over the comm

"Good to hear. Keep firing" Kim ordered.

xxxx

Despite her skill, the weapon Sarah was using was not as accurate or effective as the rifle she had been using. She was finding it harder to get kills on the first shot. Nearly impossible from more than two hundred metres, which is where most of the warriors were getting smashed by the ship cannon and several remote guns that a small squad of troopers had managed to go out and set up.

"General, does your drones have laser targeting?" Gatros asked

"They do" Kim replied

"Eight kilometres west to the ship's exact ten o'clock. That is the best spot I think" Gatros said

"I will have my drone reposition" Kim said "Alright everyone, here we go" Kim ordered "Drone is lasing, launch it"

"Copy, General" Gatros replied and keyed in the command to her console "MISSILE AWAY!"

xxxx

Kim watched the sensor footage of the outside of the hull. The hatch blew off the exterior and out of the hole came a large missile, slow at first, but quickly picked up speed as it cleared the damaged hull honed in on spot the drone was lasing.

Sarah had managed to climb down from "the nest" after losing her rifle and as someone else had taken her place. She was watching the three-dimensional holographic map of the area, watching as the missile streaked towards its target. Sarah hit her comm over the wide-band and spoke

"COVER UP!" she yelled and ducked down below the console, covering her eyes. Everyone else in the room did the same. Her leg twisted, Sarah cried out in pain.

"AGH" she yelled

"Lieutenant!" Kim said aloud

"It's fine" Sarah held her breath "Just my leg"

Sarah could felt the explosion like it was right under her feet. Grasping the console she tried to hold herself steady as the ship rocked around her. Electronics sizzled and she heard the metal creaking under the stress of the shock wave. Sarah watched as several bits of metal broke off and crashed to the ground, narrowly missing people.

The shaking eventually stopped and Sarah dared to look outside. She managed to climb back up to the sniper nest despite her leg and look out the hole in the side of the hull. What she saw was a sight she'd never forget and also the first bit of relief since they had arrived in-system. Though a few of the warriors were still charging, every one from about two klicks out was scorched black, the end of the reinforcements. The ones charging them, would either go underground or be mowed down by suppression fire from the snipers. _We may survive this after all_ she thought to herself, allowing a small smile to slide across her face.

xxxx

While the gun reloading was being done and the bug forces were holding off for the moment, the troopers were scattered all over the ship, trying to find any equipment that might still be useful, or anything that could be made into something useful. As Sarah and Kim scrounged through the equipment in the cargo bay that had been turned into a temporary home, the radio began to crackle to life

"...Rep...any...out...ple...elp. Thi...rship..._lkryrie_. We cra... iddle...sland..mos...ew ...ead...unded...eat...one...there?" then it died.

"What was that?" Sarah looked at her mother

"I have no idea. It sounded like a garbled transmission" Kim replied and hit the replay button on the console, glad that she had rigged it to record any and all transmissions "It's a call all right, I think I can... got it" Kim said as she tinkered around with the panel. The transmission played again.

"I repeat, is anyone out there? This is the Star ship _Valkyrie_. We crashed on the middle of a small island, most of the crew is dead or wounded. I repeat, is anyone out there?"

"More survivors?" Sarah asked

"I hope so. Triangulate the signal now" Kim ordered one of the techs

"Tt's about eleven hundred klicks south-southwest, General"

"Well, if the transmission is accurate, then they've crashed into the middle of the ocean, which means that our trucks are out of the equation" Sarah pointed out. As it happened to be, at that moment, one of the troopers burst through the door

"GENERAL!" he yelled, Kim turned

"What is it?"

"We found something you'll really like to see"

"What?"

"This way" the solider gestured towards the door and moved back through.

xxxx

"We were walking through here when the floor opened up, my teammate fell through" he said

"So what does that mean?" Sarah asked with a hint of impatience in her voice

"Well, we found something"

"What already?"

"Look for yourself" he said and pointed into the hole in the floor. Sarah gasped. Right below where they were standing was the main retrieval/launch hanger for the Transport choppers and there was one still in there and it looked to be in good condition.

"I hope you don't mind, General, but I asked one of the techs to check it out" the trooper said.

"And?" Kim asked

"It seems okay, some minor damage to the main hull will prevent space-flight. But other than that, it's good to go"

"This is incredible" Sarah said

"We may have a way to get to those troopers after all, Lieutenant" Kim said with a grin

"Or, better yet, relocate all the people we have here to a more defensible position" Sarah suggested

"Possibly, possibly" Kim agreed


	6. Chapter 6 Glimmer of Hope

Disclamer: I don't own Kim Possible and any related characters/vehicles/trademarked names to either her or Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles. However most of the cast is of my creation.

**Chapter 6**

**Glimmer of Hope**

Word of the discovery of the _Valkyrie_'s survival quickly spread throughout the crew, leading to many silent celebrations among the personnel.

Sarah and Kim were ever vigilante, the discovery of the _Valkyrie_, while it had provided a brief bit of relief for the survivors, it also brought about new questions. While the bugs had been launching several more attacks, it seemed that Kim's original assessment had been correct. The Arachnids were in fact being controlled by a queen, or at the very least, a brain and she had realized that the troopers were going to defend their position with every person they had at their disposal. So the attacks had been random and not too heavy, probes meant to find when they had let their guard down. As a result, Kim had ordered, and commander Kazli concurred, that round the clock drilling and practice was in order for when the bugs did attack in force. Using low-power, non-ammo wasting, laser painting ordinance,

Two days later, Kim finally agreed to let Sarah, whose leg had healed enough take her squad and lead a search mission using the chopper that had been found in one of the hangers.

"So, remember the mission. Get in, look around and report back. No deviations. Clear?" Kim said

"Understood, General" Sarah replied, checking her gear "We won't even stop for coffee"

"I mean it, Lieutenant" Kim emphasized her rank, trying to seem as serious as she could be, huffing up her chest and dusting off her rank insignia, while simultaneously placing a finger right in the square of Sarah's power suit chest armour. Sarah got the point instantly and saluted

"Yes, General"

Kim saluted back.

"Good. Dismissed" Kim said and started wandering back to the main cargo bay as the makeshift bug-alarm sounded, signalling another attack. As Kim walked out of the bay, Sarah turned her attention back to her squad

"Alright, Strikers, move out" she put her helmet on and stepped towards the cockpit in the chopper, only to hear a voice from behind her

"I believe that's my seat" she heard. Sarah turned around

"And you are?"

"Fleet Major Cassia Uitol" she stuck her hand out towards Sarah "We've met before and I'm the pilot for this mission. General Stoppable assigned me to fly for you" the Major said as she sat down in the pilot's seat and began her preflight check.

"So, L.T., how exactly are we going to get this thing out of the bay?" Brad asked.

"Yea, the bay doors aren't exactly open to the sky anymore" Jason pointed out

"The chopper will have to manoeuvre through a small passage that has been dug out over the last few days using what little remaining laser mags we have left. The passage has been reinforced but the outside remains intact. On my order, several charges will blow, creating an escape route which will be sealed afterwards" Sarah replied

"Lieutenant, how do we know this will work?" Megan asked

"We don't. But at the moment, it's all we have" Sarah replied. The main hatch into the chopper closed with a whirr, standing in front of the door was a young officer,

"And you are?" Sarah asked dryly

"Lieutenant Maxine Uteya. INTEL. General Stoppable asked me to oversee the mission"

"Great. Just what I needed" Sarah threw her hands up in a sign of surrender

"Lieutenant, I am not here to take command, I'm here to provide logistical and tactual support. I studied combat tactics theory under General Thomas Rushman at the academy"

"Let me ask you this, have you ever fired a live weapon? Or actually been in a combat situation?" Sarah asked

"Well, no. But I..."

"Learning in school counts for nothing out here and Boot Camp can only teach you so much"

"I never attended boot"

"Then keep your head down" Sarah said and turned towards the cockpit before the Lieutenant could reply "Major, patch me in to the General please" Sarah asked, Cassia nodded and flipped a switch on the panel

"General Stoppable here"

"Thanks for the parting gift. We're ready to take off"

"Play nice. And Lieutenant?"

"Yes, General?"

"Good luck"

"Don't need luck General, but thank you" Sarah signed off the comm and turned to the pilot "Let's rock and roll" she said, Cassia nodded and began the power up. "Remember, keep us low. We don't want to take fire" Sarah reminded her.

"Lieutenant, I was the top pilot in my fighter wing. I can fly one of these things through a car tunnel and not scratch the paint" She bragged. Sarah rolled her eyes and moved to her seat.

"Initiating explosion" Cassia said and flipped the switch. The bay door burst open. "Here we go" she said as she manoeuvred the transport out of the bay and across the sands "We're clear, General"

"Copy that, initiating secondary blast" Kim said over the radio. "Blast successful. Tunnel blocked. Good hunting" Kim said and killed the channel.

xxxx

Sarah took a minute to reflect on the last few days, on everything that had happened. She recalled her thoughts at the time of the crash and realized that for the first time since she could remember, she had actually been afraid. Very afraid. Maybe it was a turning point for her in her...

"Lieutenant?" came the Major's voice

"Yes?"

"We are coming up on the coordinates now"

"Thank you Major. Slow us down. We don't want to seem too eager, do we?"

"No, I guess not"

"Good. Nice and slow" Sarah said, walking up to the cockpit.

She got her first look at the second crash site. The _Valkyrie_ looked to be in worse shape than the _Allegiance_. All that was keeping it above the surface of the water was a large island that looked to be about the same size as the ship had been. A quick aerial check showed that the entire engine section of the ship, about a quarter of the ship's overall length was gone. Snapped off either before or after the crash. Most likely before, judging on what Sarah had seen on the bridge of the _Allegiance_ prior to the crash. A large part of the ship was also underwater, Sarah couldn't see how much, but it looked like most of the hangar and cargo bays would be in the flooded sections

"There" Sarah pointed to what looked to be the remains of the landing pad on the rear underside that was resting on a sand dune "That looks stable enough"

"I agree. I'll set her down"

"No, just get close enough to extend the ramp. I need you to fly CAP" Sarah said as she walked out. She turned to Lieutenant Uteya

"Stay here. Guide us via radio"

"Copy that, Lieutenant" she replied, calling up a ThreeD schematic of the _Valkyrie_.

xxxx

"I'm telling you, L.T. It's in better shape than the _Allegiance_" Brad insisted as the squad made it's way through the bowels of the damaged _Valkyrie_.

"What about the lack of engines?" Anna asked

"Okay, slight difference" Brad admitted

"Sergeant..." Sarah growled, some annoyance in her voice

"Hush up, troopers. That's an order" Megan spoke.

After landing, they had made their way inside, trying to find who, or what had sent the distress call. So far nothing seemed out of place for the type of place they were in - bulkheads were blown out, small fires lined the corridors along with bodies of long passed crew members, including troopers and several civilian passengers. One of the names she recognized. "Amanio" the helmet read. Sarah's heart sunk.

"You okay, Lieutenant?" Megan asked with concern in her voice

"I'm fine" Sarah replied "He was one of my good friends growing up" she nodded towards the fallen trooper

"I see. I'm sorry" Megan replied. Sarah straightened her face

"Sergeant, take Barcel, Theon and Howard and go check out the Communications station. I'll take Zelna, Decly and Wretz and go check out Command. Maintain radio silence until notified or emergency" Sarah ordered, trying to keep her mind

"Aye, Lieutenant" Megan replied "Let's go"

"Move out" Sarah ordered her three troopers as she walked towards the command deck.

xxxx

"Okay, command deck is six decks up" Sarah said "Start climbing" she ordered and swung to grab a rung. Brad went next, followed by Zelna and Jason taking up the rear.

It didn't take long to reach the command deck.

"Damn, door is locked" Sarah remarked "Zelna, do you have any charges?"

"Da, Lieutenant"

"Retreat to the next deck down" Sarah ordered.

"Alright, Zelna, climb back up and set a breach charge. We need that door open" Sarah ordered when everyone had gathered

"Aye, Lieutenant" Zelna replied and started to climb back up "Set!" she yelled down shortly after.

"Move!" Sarah ordered. The squad retreated back to behind a bulkhead and Sarah nodded for her to blow the charge.

The explosions, while small, still rocked the unstable ship to the point where Sarah promised she wouldn't use any more explosives while on board this wreck. She tapped the comm on the side of her helmet

"No danger. Breach charge. Maintain radio silence" she comm'd to Megan "Let's go!"

Moving through the door, through the dust and debris that had been raised by the explosion, Sarah raised her rifle and found herself starting down the barrel of a similarly looking rifle.

"Who are you?" the person on the other end asked

"Lieutenant Stoppable. Mobile Infantry. Sahara Squad. Who are you?"

"Lieutenant Thorn, S.I.C.O.N. fleet, Marines division" he was a taller man, scars on his face showed off age even though it was obvious he had tried to cover them up to no avail. Sarah kept her rifle at level

"How do we know you aren't bugs?" She asked, referring to the imposter bugs that had come around during the war

"How do we know you aren't bugs either?" he shot back

"Good point" she said then thought for a second "How about we all put our guns down. One the count of three. Deal?"

"Sounds fair" he replied

"One"

"Two"

"Three" Sarah finished and quickly lowered her weapon. Breathing a sigh of relief as Thorn and the several others that were with him did the same. "Well, that solves that. How did you survive the crash? We thought the _Valkyrie_ had gone up like the _Independence_" she pointed out. Thorn sat down on a crate.

"We were lucky. Us here and a couple others managed to make it to the escape pods before we hit the planet, but the atmosphere prevented us from launching. We stayed in the pods until it was over and when we came out, we were at that was left"

"What about the bugs?"

We've had to deal with a few Kamikazes, but we fought them all off. They all left after a nuke was set off, guess they were going after a bigger target" He finished, Sarah sat up

"Yeah, the _Allegiance_" she said as she stood up "How is this ship, structurally?"

"She's in good shape, for a bunker anyway" Thorn said "Not so much for a ship anymore"

"Good enough. We have about thirty plus people on the _Allegiance_ that are about to be overrun by bugs. You have any transports?"

"We have one chopper, but we are not sure if it is functional"

"We don't have enough time to fix it. We have to go retrieve the other crash survivors now" Sarah pointed out and tapped her comm "Sergeant Shelis"

"Yes, Sergeant?"

"Get to work on turning this place into a fortress. There is a Lieutenant Thorn up here on the command deck. I'm heading back to the _Allegiance_ wreck with Corporal Zelna"

"Aye, Lieutenant. We'll have this place turned into a rock when you return" Megan replied and began to converse with Thorn.

Sarah smiled and picked up her weapon and keyed her comm link "Major Uity, bring her down, we have to go a pick up some passengers"

"Copy that, Lieutenant" the Cassia replied "Coming in for a landing"


	7. Chapter 7 Working out Defenses

Disclamer: I don't own Kim Possible and any related characters/vehicles/trademarked names to either her or Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles. However most of the cast is of my creation.

**Chapter 7**

**Working Out Defences**

"Major, I need you to put me through to the General. Get us back to the crash site, asap" Sarah ordered as she entered the cockpit. The undeniable sense of hope was in the air. Hope that they might survive this.

"Comm link open, lifting off" Cassia said as Kim's face appeared on the comm panel

"General"

"Lieutenant. What is the situation?"

"We have checked out the crashed _Valkyrie_, she is structurally sound and my squad is setting up defence points as we speak"

"I never gave the go ahead to set up defences, Lieutenant" Kim said sternly

"It seemed like the best course of action" Sarah protested

"When you are in operation command, then you make the calls. Until then, Lieutenant" Kim said, emphasizing Sarah's rank "Be sure to defer to those in command before making major decisions"

"Understood, General" Sarah replied

"That said" Kim added "I agree with your recommendation"

"You do?"

"Yes. One thing you learn in a command position is to listen to those under you. They have good advice at times" Kim said " The _Valkyrie_ is a much better defensive position than the Allegiance_"_ Even though the General showed no emotion over the screen, Sarah could tell that she was proud "Arrangements will be made to transport personnel with the chopper. I will take a small team and transport the supplies to the water by truck. We can switch them over there"

"Yes, General" Sarah said, even though she felt a sting in her gut about her mother taking on such a mission. She made a note to speak to her when they touched down.

"Good. See you when you arrive" Kim finished and switched off the screen, not waiting for Sarah to salute.

xxxx xxxx

About a half hour later, the chopper began it's landing sequence down to the crash site of the Allegiance. Kim was at the landing pad, waiting when Sarah stepped off the boarding ramp. Sarah saluted

"General" she said. Kim returned the salute and began walking inside

"Lieutenant. Preparations have been made. The most critical of supplies are being loaded onto the trucks right now. We'll be ready to move out in ten" Kim said as she walked. Sarah stopped and turned to her mother

"General, permission to speak freely?" Sarah asked. Kim nodded

"Don't do this. Send someone else to lead the convoy" That got Kim's attention

"Who would you have me send? Hmm? This is a dangerous mission. I cannot in good conscious order anyone to do this. I put it out as a volunteer mission. I have to be the one to lead it"

"But mom, the bugs..."

"Lieutenant, I know. I spent years fighting them"

"But this is a suicide mission!" Sarah protested

"Lieutenant. I will hear no more of this. What is done, is done. Understood?" Kim snapped

"Yes, Ma'am" Sarah reluctantly replied

xxxx xxxx

"Alright, we're going to move out. Major Uitol. Get the transport to the _Valkyrie_ and unload it. What we couldn't fit on board has been stacked near the landing bay. Once you are done with that run, meet us at the beach, we'll transfer the remaining supplies and personnel to the chopper for the final run" Kim said

"Understood, General. Lifting off" Cassia replied and began the power up sequence.

Kim walked over to the trucks as Lieutenant Alex Max and Sergeant Collin Tagart came up behind her. She stopped.

"I ordered everyone on to the transport" she rebuked them

"We understand that, General" Alex replied "But with all do respect, you'll need guns for when you run in to Warriors. So, with respect to your orders, General, we refuse to obey. We'll surrender for court martial when this is over" he finished. Kim smiled

"Get on the second truck and prime your weapons. We roll in two"

"Aye" Alex replied and ran to the following truck.

"Let's move out" Kim ordered, the driver of the truck nodded and stepped down on the accelerator. The damaged vehicle lurched forward and ploughed through the weakened hull section and on to the sand dunes.

A few minutes into the drive and she spotted warriors coming up in the rear-view mirror. While she held no illusion to the idea that they would not be discovered, she had held on to a small smidgen of hope in that regard. She tapped her com link

"Warriors at six-o'clock. FIRE AT WILL"

"Copy that, General. Warriors spotted. Engaging" Alex replied over the comm and opened fire with his weapon. Between the sound of the engine and the sound of the pulse cannon, Kim could barely hear anything

xxxx

While Kim raced against time to the beach, Sarah sat in the chopper cockpit. Still on their first run and nearing the beach, she sat back in her chair and realized that after everything that had been happening, she had forgotten all about her leg and the pain it was in. She gritted her teeth.

"_Valkyrie_, this is Lieutenant Stoppable"

"Go ahead" Megan replied

"We will be on your six in two-zero minutes"

"Copy that" she replied "We've repaired as much of the hull as we can without new parts. It should be able to hold up to sustained air attacks"

"Good to hear. We are almost on station"

"Understood"

xxxx xxxx

Megan turned away from the comm and looked over at several of the crew

"They are almost here

"Sergeant!" Anna called over the comm

"What is it, Private?" Megan replied

"Can you please come to Aux hanger two. We have found something" Anna said with undeniable excitement in her voice

"On my way" Megan replied and looked up at Thorn "You coming?"

"Might as well" he replied and followed them.

"What you have?" Megan asked, walking into the hangar.

"Take a look" Anna gestured towards the hanger and flipped a light switch. Inside sat two heavy assault fighter craft and they looked relatively undamaged, at least compared to the rest of the hanger.

"Good job, Private" Megan said and tapped her helmet comm

"Strikers XO for Strikers lead"

"This is Sarah. Go ahead"

"Lieutenant, we have found two heavy fighters that appear to be in decent condition in an aux hanger. Request permission to check condition and launch fighters in defensive formation"

"Lieutenant, this is Lieutenant Uitol" Cassia cut in "I think that is a bad idea. It would reveal the one advantage we have over the bugs and prematurely at that"

"We should launch" Thorn put in "We have nothing to lose by defending ourselves with all we have"

"Wait until I arrive. We are touching down now"

"Lieutenant, I..."

"Begin inspection of craft. I want to know what condition they are in. But do not, I repeat, do not launch

"Copy, L.T." Megan said and shut off the comm

xxxx xxxx

"General" Sarah looked at the screen, with Kim on the other end as the transport touched down on the _Valkyrie_ deck

"Yes, Lieutenant?"

"My team has found two heavy assault fighter craft sitting in a hanger bay on the _Valkyrie_. Request permission to get them up and in the fight"

"Granted, Lieutenant. We need all the muscle we can get. But hold off on the launch until they are needed"

"Copy that. We just offloaded all the personnel and we are off again to pick up the last of the supplies off the _Allegiance_"

"Very good, Lieutenant. We are on schedule and on time. Carry on. I've spoken with Commander Kazli, she will take command until my return"

"Aye, General. Stoppable out" Sarah closed the comm and tapped her helmet comm

"Sergeant Shelis, get those fighters ready for combat" Sarah said

"Copy that, boss" Megan replied. Sarah tapped her comm

"Crewman Gatros, come in

"Go ahead, Lieutenant"

"Do you have experience with fighters?"

'Aye, Lieutenant" she replied

"Get down to Aux Hangar two. I need you to look over the two fighters we found. Get them ready for combat as best you can"

"Copy that" Gatros replied. Sarah closed the channel and sat back down in her seat.

"We need pilots" Sarah said quietly as she paced around

"Airhead and Pinpoint" Cassia suggested. Sarah looked at her curiously

"Lieutenant Arke and Lieutenant Heilsa" Cassia said "They are the two best pilots we have that aren't already assigned"

"Good enough" Sarah said and tapped her comm "Lieutenant Arke and Lieutenant Heilsa, come in please. This is Lieutenant Stoppable

"Go ahead, Lieutenant" Arke replied

Yes, Lieutenant" Heilsa replied

"I need you two to get down to Aux hangar two. We found two fighter craft that need pilots"

"Copy that" Arke replied

"On my way" Heilsa acknowledged. Sarah closed the channel

Standing the cockpit, she began to realize just how heavy her power suit had become. She hadn't taken it off for almost a week and she swore she could feel it grafting to her skin. She grasped her leg, remembering that it was broken and without her power suit, she wouldn't even be walking.

xxxx xxxx

"_Valkyrie_, we are touching down with the supplies now" Sarah radioed

"Copy that. We see you" Thorn replied. Sarah closed the channel.

Thorn watched as the transport's legs touched down on the deck. The ramp extended and Sarah along with several troopers walked off, each carrying a large crate.

Sarah set hers down on the deck and another trooper came to grab it.

"Welcome back, Lieutenant" Thorn said "Don't worry about putting it inside. Just drop it on the deck and go!" Thorn ordered the troopers unloading the transport

"Thank you, Lieutenant" Sarah replied "So where do we stand?"

"Commander Kazli has defences in place and we're moving guns around. The _Valkyrie_'s cargo holds were in remarkable shape and we were able to salvage lots of weapons. We couldn't access the lower bays because they are underwater" he said, filling her in "Lieutenant Barcel has med bay up and running, treating wounds left and right, what remains of the squads are patching holes, setting up gun positions"

"Good to hear" Sarah said

"The Commander did want to see you in communications as soon as you landed"

"Thank you, Lieutenant" Sarah said and walked away.

xxxx

Entering the communications centre, Sarah saw that the officers were all present. Her, Megan, Lieutenant Lucas Cosan and his squad XO Sergeant Jessica Kuts. Lieutenant Thorn as well as Lieutenant Samantha Heilsa, Major April Arke, Lieutenant Maxine Uteya from INTEL with Crew Cheif Max Cical and topping it off, Commander Kazli

"Look, I know most of you, aren't big on the idea of me in charge, but you've never held a battlefield command and the General put me in charge, so we have to work with it, okay?" Kazli said, everyone seemed to nod "Okay, good. Now, what is this thing, how are we going to deal with it and how are our defences looking?"

"Not terrible, but not great either. The outer hull is severely compromised. I have what ground crew we have left sealing up anything that leads to the sunken parts of the ship and we've gathered up what we can. That's the good news. The bad news is that we don't have any ship turrets online or even in basic working order" Cassia said

"Anything we can do about that?" Thorn asked quietly

"Not much" she answered "I have people working on it, but it's not going quickly" she turned to Cical "I would like to cannibalize some parts from the smaller guns to make them work"

"The ship cannons, big shell or flak?" he asked, Maxine looked curiously at her

"Shells, of course" Kazli answered

"No. We need flak cannons. We need the air defence" Sarah protested

"Lieutenant..."

"Request permission to suggest a course of action?" Sarah asked. Kazli nodded

"Fix up as many as the flak cannons as possible and get a team on the heavy cannon with the most view and firing arc. The rest can be cannibalized for the flak cannons" Sarah said, several of the troopers nodded

"Alright. Chief, get it done" Kazli ordered

"Understood" he said

"And the fighters?" Sarah asked

"Prepped and ready to fly" Arke reported, matter-of-factually "Fuelled, armed and ready on your order, Commander"

"How are they structurally?" Kazli asked

"Questionable" Heilsa replied "But they should hold. We aren't going into space and both have chutes"

"In these waters, chutes aren't going to do much good"

"And we both have rifles" Arke said "In case of ejection"

"It'll have to do. Get to your fighters and stand by for orders" Kazli ordered, they both saluted and walked out

"Now, the rest of the ship..." Kazli

"We have troopers evenly spread out, each with an even amount of ammo. Ours are waiting outside this room as well as position data. Except for you" Thorn nodded at Sarah, "You, the Commander and the General are best placed right in this room"

"I disagree" Kazli stated "The general and I will stay in this room as will you, Sergeant" she nodded at Megan "You will see that our orders get delivered. Lieutenant Stoppable will take your place at the gun ports" Kazli said, Megan nodded "Now, It's been a long few days. People need to rest. I want everyone in a rack asap. Lieutenant Stoppable, your squad will take first watch. Four hour shifts. Lieutenant Cosan, your squad is up in four hours" she said and he nodded. "Move it" Kazli ordered.

Everyone began to depart, except for Megan, Sarah and Kazli

"Sergeant, stay here and keep an eye on sensors. I'll be topside, waiting for the chopper" Sarah ordered as the rest of her squad wandered in. Zelna, Decly, Barcel, Theon and Wretz

"Okay, here's the deal, we are on first watch while everyone else gets rack time. I want troopers stationed evenly. Sergeant Shelis will be down here co-coordinating everyone. I'm up top with Decly and Wertz. Theon, I want you in the fighter bay, watching over our guardian angels" Sarah chuckled "Barcel, how is your makeshift sickbay holding up?"

"So far so good. I've still got a few to patch up" she replied

"Okay, finish there and then you and your rifle I want in the nest, you're our lookout in case of attack. If a med emergency comes up, then Private Wertz will relieve you" Sarah said, Jason nodded.

"And myself?" Zelna asked quietly

"I want you in fire control. If we do get attacked, there won't be much warning. Fire control isn't as accurate as human targeters, but it will do until they get roused" she finished and before she could be interrupted "And if you want to complain about your assignments, then put on your helmet, turn off the comm and complain all you want. Move out"

"Aye, Lieutenant" they all saluted and walked to their positions.

xxxx xxxx

"GENERAL, THEY'RE GAINING!" Alex shouted over the comm.

"I see that, Lieutenant" Kim replied, looking out the mirror. She turned to the driver "Can we go any faster?"

"I'm sorry, General" he replied "But any faster and I risk damaging the engine"

"Very well. Keep this speed"

"Aye, General. But how are we going to unload?" he asked

"We're not. If these Warriors don't give up, we're going to have to save the personnel and come back later for the cargo" Kim said reluctantly.

Gripping the mounted turret controls, Alex fired a burst into the Warriors, shredding one of the bugs. It fell and one of the Warriors behind it nearly tripped. He redirected his target and fired again, hitting another Warrior. Fired again, two down. Again, one more gone. He gritted his teeth as several Warriors began to close in. As fast as the machine would move, he changed targets and pulled on the trigger, sending out another pulse burst and tore off a Warrior's leg. It shrieked and fell to the ground. He snickered.

"General" the driver spoke

"Yes?"

"We're about a half hour from the beach"

"Understood" Kim said and activated the radio "General Stoppable to Major Uitol. Come in"

"This is Uitol. Go ahead General" Cassia replied

"We are about a half hour from the beach and we have a lot of company behind us" Kim said

"Copy that General. I have a few troopers with me. I'll put one of them in the turrets for while we load" Cassia replied

"We're not going to load" Kim said "Just get close enough to extend the ramp and we'll come aboard"

"Permission to speak freely?" Cassia asked

"Go ahead"

"We need those supplies and we may not get a second chance to retrieve them. We have to get them and you back to the _Valkyrie_"

"I agree" Kim said "But I don't want to risk lives necessarily"

"I have an idea"

"Go ahead"

"I'll land and lower the platform. You back the trucks up the platform and keep the gunners where they are. Then we can load and be mostly protected while loading"

"How many hands do you have on board?" Kim asked

"Four others. I was going to assign one of them turret duty"

"It's too risky. We need another way"

"I do have a pair of portable turrets on board" Cassia said "There is no other way"

"Alright. We'll try. I'll brief the troopers here. You'd better be one hell of a pilot" Kim said

"They had to build new simulators just to have something that kept up with me. I am five minutes from your location" Cassia said and closed the channel.

xxxx

"Coming up on the beach, General" the driver said

"Understood" Kim replied and hit the radio "Everyone understand what the plan and their roles?" she asked. Everyone replied that they did. "Alright, TOSS 'EM!" she ordered.

"Bouquets away" said one of the troopers. Kim watched in the rear view mirror as four objects about the size of her head rolled across the dunes and towards the Warriors. Bursting open they released dozens of smaller objects.

The shock wave from the simultaneous explosion nearly knocked Kim out of her seat

"Ooof" she reacted

"We're good. Engine still running" the driver said quickly. Kim stood up and leaned out the window, looking at the large cloud of sand that had been kicked up from the explosion.

No Warriors emerged from the cloud. Kim watched for a few more minutes, but still none came through.

"No pursuit" she said. But before the driver could respond, the sand dunes began to crack open. "WATCH IT!" she yelled. The driver swerved away from it, as did the other driver. The trucks separated out from the cracks.

Looking in the mirror Kim saw the ground open up.

"Oh no" she reacted and looked over at the driver "We've got a tanker behind us" she said. The driver pressed the comm

"We're going full speed. We need to outrun this" he said

"I concur" the other driver replied and closed the channel

"Even at full speed, General, the beach is coming up too quickly. We won't be able to outrun the tanker" he said

"I know" Kim replied and pressed the comm "Major Uitol, report status"

"Uitol here. I was just about to move into position"

"Belay that. We need recon over the trucks" Kim said

"Ten four, General Stoppable. I'll be over your heads in two minutes"

"I need a threat assessment of what is behind us and are you packing any ordinance?"

"Affirmative. All the transports were outfitted with offensive missiles for this mission. But I only have two out of four functional"

"That'll have to do. Radio when you have information on the threat. We are going to divert west, away from the beach until this is dealt with"

"Understood, General" Cassia replied. Kim closed the channel.

"Okay, take us due west" Kim ordered. The driver nodded and turned the vehicle to the right. The other truck followed alongside.

"General Stoppable" came over the comm

"This is Stoppable. Go" Kim replied

"General, I'm over your head right now. You have two tankers and, at best guess, at least a battalion sized force of Warriors behind you"

"Can you do anything about them?" Kim asked

"Yes. But nothing will stop more from appearing..."

"...Especially among the easy shifting sand dunes" Kim finished

"Exactly"

"Alright, move into position"

"Give me a minute, I need to override a couple of safety subroutines up here to make this possible"

"Understood. Let me know when you are ready" Kim closed the channel and hit her comm link "Alright, gunners, stand down. I want everyone in the holds. Major Uitol is going to position the cargo platform just behind the truck and we are going to load while moving. We'll do one truck at a time. Drivers, keep your holomaps up. We are going to need to know well ahead of time of any changes in course. Everyone clear on that?" Kim said. The replies came through as nervous, but understanding.

"All set up here, General" Cassia's voice came over the comm

"Alright. Let's do this. Take care of the other truck first"

"Aye" Cassia replied.

Kim watched as the transport, it's hydraulic platform lowered, descended from the clouds and lined up with the rear of the transport truck

"Easy does it, easy does it" Kim heard the Irish accent of Sergeant Collin Tagart guide the transport down "A little closer. Another meter... HOLD!" he said "That's good right there. Don't move"

"Don't take long loading. I can't hold this forever" Cassia replied. _This is one for the history books_ Kim thought as she watched three troopers carry crates and load them on the cargo platform.

"We're halfway there" Kim heard Tagart say over the comm

"Good" Cassia replied. Kim could hear the stress in her voice.

It took only a few minutes when the last of the cargo had been loaded and the troopers were standing the platform

"Alright, we're ready here. Just waiting on the driver" Kim heard over the comm and saw another trooper jump onto the cargo deck as the truck began to swerve "GO! GO!" Tagart said as the truck began to move

"VEER AWAY!" Kim ordered the driver of her truck. He turned on the wheel and drove as far away as he could. Kim watched as the other truck began to steer before finally steering sideways and rolling side over side until it came to rest, all of it's wheels having fallen off and the driver section crushed in

"General" came Tagart's voice over the comm "Give us a minute to get this cargo sorted and we'll be down to get you

"Copy that, Sergeant. Don't rush. Major, how are you holding up?"

"That wasn't as challenging as I had thought it would be but still not as easy as it looked"

"You handled it very well"

"Thank you, General. If I might make a suggestion?"

"Of course"

"Put in a simulator with this situation when we get home" Cassia said. Kim chuckled

"I'll do that"

"Alright, I'm coming down. Ramp deployed"

"Copy that. I see you" Kim replied.

It wasn't long before the transport was in position and loading began. Kim grabbed a crate and walked towards the platform, setting it down on top of another one. Walking back inside the truck, she grabbed another and carried it outside again, setting it down on the metal surface.

"Alright, that's the last of it. Driver!" she called out

"Aye, General" he replied and let go the wheel, hopping over the seat and into the troop section. The truck began to veer as he jumped onto the platform. He almost fell back, but Kim grabbed his wrist gauntlet.

"Major, FLY!" Kim ordered over her comm as she pulled him up

"Copy that, General" Cassia replied and hit the throttle before tapping the hydraulic platform switch.

Kim allowed herself to breathe a sigh of relief as the reassuring clank of the platform locking into place echoed through the bay.

"Welcome aboard, General" Sergeant Tagart saluted

"Thank you, Sergeant" Kim saluted back "Secure the cargo and strap in, troopers" she ordered and walked up the cockpit

"Nice save, Major" Kim said, taking a seat in the co-pilot's chair.

"Thank me after we land" Cassia replied, manoeuvring the transport back towards the ocean.


	8. Chapter 8 Blazing the Wings of Angels

Disclamer: I don't own Kim Possible and any related characters/vehicles/trademarked names to either her or Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles. However most of the cast is of my creation.

**Chapter 8**

**Blazing the Wings of Angels**

The transport finally touched down and Kim walked down the ramp, her General's uniform scuffed and torn in several places. Her hair messier than Sarah had ever seen and her face neutral, scarred in several places, as rigid and relentless as an assault rifle. Her eyes forward, but with a glimmer of humanity in them. Something Sarah had not recognized in a long time. While her mother had always been happy when Sarah was growing up but she never seemed quite with herself. Now that she had the glimmer in her eyes, Sarah seemed to realize why. The bug war that Kim had fought in had instituted a change in the woman, or so far as Sarah thought, at least from talking to her father about Kim before the war. She had a bit more life in her, a bit more pleasure in the day to day. Now Sarah saw what seemed like had been described to her and it clicked in her head as to why Kim had decided to go along on this mission - she was more at home and at peace while on the battlefield than anywhere else. Sarah took no offence in this, none at all.

"Lieutenant, SITREP" Kim barked as she stepped off the ramp. Sarah nodded and turned to walk with her mother.

"My squad is on lookout. Kazli ordered the rest of the personnel to get some rack time.

"And our defences?"

"The water will keep away most of the Warriors and higher priority has been assigned to any remaining flak cannons over heavy ship cannons. And as I said, my team and a few tech crews are still up and moving about, but the rest of the survivors are napping. I figured they could use the rest"

"Good call, Lieutenant. We need everyone at their best. What else?"

"No bug attacks as of yet. I don't think they know where we are or they do and just aren't doing anything about it"

"We have to assume they know where we are and are preparing to mount an attack"

"I agree" Sarah continued to move along with the General "I also have crews sealing up bulkheads that lead to the flooded areas of the ship"

"Anything else I should be aware of?"

"Nothing else at the moment, General"

"Very good"

"Now I..." Sarah started and stumbled across some debris that was scattered along the deck, nearly falling, but managing to keep her balance. Kim reached out, ready to grab Sarah as she was about to fall. Sarah coughed as she righted herself

"Nice reaction time"

"I saw it coming. Just wanting to see if you would notice" Kim smirked and walked off, Sarah followed quickly behind, muttering something that Kim ignored

"So, why?"

"Because being in command is about remaining in control and staying focused. Seeing what is in front of you. Something they can't teach you at OCS"

"And how would you know that? You never went to OCS" Sarah shot back

"Ah, touche, Lieutenant" Kim smirked as she walked on "But I did do a bit of work at OCS and saw the material. It's good, but nothing can substitute for a real experience in the field"

I can't argue that" Sarah admitted

xxxx xxxx

It took a few hours and finally Sarah was able to get a bit of rack time, but as usual, just as she lay her head down, shouts came from the top deck of an impending attack. Sarah sighed and sat up on the bit of shredded bulk head that she was about to call her bed for at least a couple hours.

Commotion was the order of the day, yet again as Sarah entered the makeshift command centre. Everyone was running around and yelling at everyone else to do something that needed done. All in all, it wasn't too strange for a command centre, especially a makeshift field command centre Everyone was doing their jobs and making sure that what needed to get done, got done.

Kim was, of course, directing several people at once, reading over battle plans and issuing orders as needed. Sarah walked up to her mother and saluted

"General" Kim didn't even glance at her and Sarah dropped the Salute

"Lieutenant. We need you topside. Get your rifle and report. Your squad is already on-site"

"Understood, General"

"That's all"

"Aye" Sarah quickly saluted and walked out, grabbing the rifle that she had left by the door and making sure that it was loaded and prepped.

Exiting the command centre, she headed for the top of the ship as fast as her wounded leg would carry her.

"Sergeant. SITREP" Sarah ordered as she reached the top deck, where Megan was standing, looking through binoculars at a large black cloud approaching them

"Kamikazes and Hoppers wave inbound. And there is a lot of them" Megan said, handing Sarah the binoculars

It didn't look good at all. From what Sarah could see, there were hundreds of Hoppers and Kamikaze Ripplers heading right for them.

"Man gun positions!" she ordered and hoisted her rifle, then tapped her comm link "General, we have aerial incoming. Several hundred plus"

"Copy that, Lieutenant. I'm ordering fighter launch, check your fire. I shouldn't have to remind you that we do not have too much ammunition left"

"You don't, General" Sarah commed and turned to her squad "The General is ordering a fighter launch. Check your sights and don't shoot our own people" she ordered, everyone nodded and began to disperse and aim their weapons. Sarah took aim behind her rifle, focusing down the scope into the wave, trying to avoid just randomly spraying fire into the cloud and wasting ammunition She tapped her comm

"Hold steady, don't fire until I give the order" she said, gazing down the barrel "Hold steady" she watched as the bugs drew closer "OPEN FIRE!" she yelled and squeezed the trigger gently. Down below the flak cannons erupted in a blaze of fire and began tearing up the enemy and they began to drop into the water.

xxxx

"Locked in and prepped" Heilsa said from her cockpit, looking over at the displays.

"Copy that here. Avionics are go. Weapons are go. Engines are go. Systems ready" Arke reported who also looked up at the tech, who looked down at them from the control desk.

"Roger, clear and hot. Good luck out there pilots" he said and pressed the door switch.

The hanger doors flew open and the fighters shot out, their engines boosting them away from the wreckage.

"Airhead, on my wing, make sure to stay out of range of small arms fire. Tally hostile fliers five o'clock high" Arke comm'd

"Copy that, Pinpoint. Tallied, enemy fighters hundred plus. Bandits inbound" Heilsa replied as they did a one hundred eighty degrees turn in their course and headed for the wave of enemies.

xxxx

Sarah was holding her ground, a constant stream of pulse rounds leaving her rifle barrel. Almost all of her shots hit their mark, sending flying bugs down and splashing into the water. Her armour was dented in several places from Rippler thorns, not to mention the splatters all over from the bugs that had exploded. She gritted her teeth as her shots took down another enemy and squinted as the sun found it's way into her eyes. She moved and squeezed the trigger again, determined to continue on.

"RUNNING LOW!" one of her squad mates yelled out, she wasn't sure who, probably Brad

"HERE!" someone else yelled out

"INBOUND!" a Russian accent yelled out and Sarah felt something slam into her and throw her across the ship hull.

She looked up at the sun and felt a sudden second of calm wash over her as her ears rang loudly from the impact and she saw a shadow come over her. It was Barcel and she appeared to be speaking, but Sarah couldn't hear what she was saying.

As her ears began to ring less and less she felt a hard impact on her power suit and words began filtering into her ears

"...nant... you...ay?" was all Sarah heard as the ringing began to dissipate "Lieutenant, are you okay?" rang through her head and she groaned loudly trying to wave off the the bright light that shone into her eyes and grumbled to speak.

Lifting her hands, she tried to lift herself off the deck, pushing with whatever strength she had left

"I...I'm fine" she said through gritted teeth. She tried in vain to lift herself, with little success when an arm, clad in power suit, reached out to her. She looked up and right into the face of her XO.

Grabbing Megan's arm, she hoisted herself up and onto her feet

"You alright, Lieutenant?" Megan asked

"Fine. What happened?" she asked. Before Megan could reply, Sarah grabbed the rifle that she had dropped and began to take up firing position again

"That was my fault, Lieutenant" Barcel said over the comm "It didn't just fall when I shot it"

"Not your fault, Corporal" Sarah replied. Sarah looked over the deck and saw that another Hopper had crashed into and pierced Brad's suit. He wasn't moving.

"Corporal!" Sarah shook him, he didn't move.

xxxx

"Pinpoint, bandit on your six. Airhead committing. Fox two!" Heilsa comm'd and launched a missile at the Kamikaze

"Airhead. Alpha two on the assist. But save your missiles. Guns only, good copy?"

"Ten-four, Pinpoint. Switching to cannons and engaging" Heilsa copied and rolled her fighter away from tailing Arke too closely and targeted another unfortunate Hopper

As Arke rounded the end of a turn and tried to bring her sights to bear on an enemy, but her craft was rocked by a flak explosion She jolted in her seat, trying to keep the fighter level and on course.

That's when she looked down at her radar display and how close she was to the wreckage of the _Valkyrie_. Trying not to panic, she pulled back on the stick and sent her fighter into a steep climb that threw her into her seat. She looked down at her instruments, trying to obtain a read of her position when Kim's voice crackled over the comm

"Pinpoint, are you there?" she radioed. Arke flipped the radio switch while she got her fighter under control

"All here, General. Just trying to shake some admirers of mine" she said, shaking her head, realized how fatigued she really was.

"Copy that, but be careful, you almost wandered into the flak screen" Kim took a deep breath "Normally I'd have you land and put in a new pilot so you could get some rest, but we don't have any more pilots to go on. So stay awake and stay alive, clear?"

"Understood, General. I'll keep my head up" she comm'd as she manoeuvred to line up her sights

"See that you do. Kim, out" came over the radio. She sighed and squeezed the trigger, sending another bug plummeting down to the water. Struggling to keep her eyes open, she took her left hand off the console and smacked her helmet, trying to wake herself up

"Come on, keep it together, April. Keep it together and wake up" she said to herself, hoping her finger wasn't on the comm button.

The fighter's engines roared and the ship banked to the right, her cannons blazing to life and tearing through an unsuspecting hopper, which exploded and splattered all over her fighter cockpit canopy

"Scratch another one" she grinned and then everything went black.

xxxx

Sarah dived behind the cover that had been set up and grabbed a clip from a fallen trooper, she looked over and a frown crossed her face when she saw that it was Jason. Several Kamikaze thorns were embedded in his head and throughout his power suit She sighed, reloaded her rifle and tapped her comm

"General, this is Strikers lead. Over"

"Go ahead, Strikers lead"

"Reporting another casualty, it's Private Wertz" as Sarah said that, she heard her mother sigh.

"Noted. Anyone else hurt?" came over the comm

"Not as far as I know, General" Sarah gritted as she moved to avoid another shot

"Copy that, Kim out" and the channel went dead. Sarah groaned and rolled over, taking aim at an inbound hopper. She took it out with precision, putting several shots right between it's eyes.

As she moved and looked up, firing off another few rounds, she noticed Arke's fighter roll and the right wing collide with a Kamikaze The wing was torn off and plummeted down and crashed in the water. The rest of the fighter spun out of control and began to move closer to the surface. Sarah tapped her comm

"MAJOR ARKE! EJECT! EJECT!" she yelled out, but it was too late.

The fighter was engulfed in flames and down it went before it slammed into the base of the _Valkyrie_'s hull, just at the waterline. The following explosion nearly shook Sarah off her feet.

"LIEUTENANT, WHAT WAS THAT?" Kim yelled over the comm

"Major Arke. Her fighter crashed into the the hull"

"Chute?"

"No chute. We've lost another"

"Understood, Lieutenant. I'll send D.C. teams to assess the damage. Kim out" her voice sounded unusually monotone, but Sarah figured that she was just trying to stay in control, and having emotions would not help the situation...

xxxx xxxx

The battle continued long into the night, long after the suns had set. Sarah and her squad had been reinforced by Lieutenant Max and what remained of his squad after all the structural reinforcements had been completed to what remained of the _Valkyrie_. The bugs showed no sign of letting up their attack and ammo was beginning to run dangerously dry. Kim had ordered several of the flak cannons to cease firing to conserve ammunition reserves and in her mind, Sarah really began to question whether or not they would survive to see home again. It began to dawn in her mind of how mortal she really was. How one well placed thorn could end it all.

And as it all began to wash over her, her mortal realization, she found strength in it, she found a way to re-energize herself, to calm and focus her mind. It quickly dawned on her how she could use this strength and tried to accept the reality of the situation.

She took in a deep breath, checked her rifle and let loose several controlled bursts, all of which found their targets. She dived and rolled over, letting more rounds loose.

"C'MON" she screamed and let fly more rounds into the could of Hoppers and Kamikazes Turning, she fired again, the sweat beading down her face from her furious movements. She fired off more rounds, her rifle clicking loudly afterwards, signalling it was out of ammunition. She grabbed another magazine, reloaded and fired again. It all felt like a blur, one long blur...

xxxx xxxx

"I've run dry" Heilsa comm'd "Heading back for the bay" she banked the fighter away from the cloud of bugs and turned her course back towards the _Valkyrie_. Kim's voice crackled over the comm

"Lieutenant, we need you out there"

"General," she replied as a missile was launched "I don't have any more cannon ammunition left and I'm using my missiles just to get back to the ship" no reply.

"Alright. Come back and land. I have another job for you"

"Copy that, General" she said as her fighter was guided down to the bay.


	9. Chapter 9 Prepare the Charge

Disclamer: I don't own Kim Possible and any related characters/vehicles/trademarked names to either her or Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles. However most of the cast is of my creation.

**Chapter 9**

**Prepare the Charge**

"So you understand the mission?" Kim asked Heilsa

"Yes, General. Fly up to the nearby moon and plant the distress beacon"

"Exactly. The fleet might be able to pick up the signal if the bugs aren't attacking it" Kim said

"But why didn't we do this earlier? Set off the beacon, I mean" Sarah asked

"Because, there wasn't any reliable place to set it. And setting it off inside the ship wouldn't do much good, as it would have a hard time sending a clear signal. That's why the beacons are mounted on the outside of the ship"

"I guess so. But aren't these programmed to go off when there is a disaster?"

"Yes, as to why this one didn't go off, I don't know. But each ship frigate and bigger has two beacons, and we don't know if the other one went off or if any of the beacons on the other ships were activated"

"So we are proceeding under the assumption that the other beacons failed to go off and the fleet has no idea what has happened?" Heilsa asked

"Exactly. Then all we have to do is survive" Kim replied

"And how do we do that?" Sarah asked with a grin. Kim shot her a look "Uh, Sir"

"One step at a time, Lieutenant" she said to Sarah and looked at Heilsa "Good luck, Lieutenant"

"Thank you, General" Heilsa saluted and walked towards her fighter. Kim and Sarah turned and walked away

"General, we are almost out of ammunition" Sarah began "How are we going to hold out until the fleet arrives?"

"I've ordered teams to begin sealing off every crack in the hull and double reinforcing the plating. When that is done, all the guns will be turned off and secured. Hopefully the hull will keep them out"

"Hopefully, General?"

"Yes, Lieutenant. Hopefully. We can always fire the guns up again if needed, but we need to keep as much ammo as possible in reserve"

"I understand that, General. But..."

"But what, Lieutenant? You have another option?"

"I..."

"We could ferry all the personnel off planet, to the moon, but we don't have enough pressure suits for everyone, much less breathing equipment Nor is there anywhere else on this planet that we can go. We could continue to fight, but then we run out of ammo anyway and are left defenceless"

"General..." Sarah tried to get a word in, Kim stopped walking and turned to her daughter

"Sarah, listen. I know this isn't what you want to do, but it's the way it needs to be done. Do you trust me?"

"Mom, I do. I really do. But I don't know about this. For the first time in my life, I'm scared"

"Sarah, I am too. But we are the leaders here. We have to do what is best for the group"

"I know. I just think there has to be another way. I believe there has to be another way"

"I'll keep my eyes open in case there is, I promise"

"Thanks, mom. Er, General"

"Lieutenant" Kim said as she walked off

xxxx xxxx

"Launching" Lt. Heilsa reported as her fighter rocketed out of the bay, the doors sealing behind her "On course for the planetary moon. eta two dash one zero minutes"

"Copy that, Airhead" A voice came over the comm from the _Valkyrie_'s control centre Looking over her instruments, she made sure to double check her fuel gauge. The techs had told her that she should have enough in the tank to make it to and from the moon, or at least to the moon and then back to the planet's atmosphere, which didn't reassure her at all. Luckily, the bugs hadn't bothered her on her way out. Something she was immensely glad of.

"Exiting atmosphere. Disengaging atmospheric boosters and switching nav computer to orbital settings" she reported over the radio, as she did every time she had taken a craft into space. Admittedly, there was some difference this time, but she tried not to think about it.

"Copy that. You are go for mission delivery"

"Confirmed, control" she comm'd back

xxxx xxxx

"General, the sealing of the ship is well under way" a crew tech reported to Kim as he handed her a data pad

"Very Good" Kim said and handed the pad back and saw Sarah running up

"General" she saluted. Kim kept walking

"Yes, Lieutenant?"

"You asked me if I had a better idea. I do" Sarah blurted out. Kim stopped walking. Before Sarah could start, Kim cut her off

"Let me guess, you want to go and try to find the bug source on this world?" Kim said. Sarah was taken aback

"How...how did you know?" she studdered. Kim just smirked and pulled a stopwatch out of her pocket, pressing the time stop button. The screen read 00:21:35.

"Because, it's what I would do if I were in your position and it's exactly my kind of idea. Plus it's a leader's job to anticipate these kinds of things"

"But...but"

"Plus, you are my daughter. I expect nothing less than reckless, foolhardy attempts to be a hero" Kim said with a slight smile. Sarah was speechless. She finally managed to assemble words together

"And you were timing me?"

"Yes. You did better than I expected. But for the moment, the plan is denied. We need everyone here, doing what they do best" Kim said as she wandered off

xxxx xxxx

"Placing the beacon now" Heilsa reported as she lifted the final part into place on the beacon "Confirming power levels" she stopped and stood up "Confirming beacon activation"

"Confirmation granted. Proceed with activation" Kim's voice came over the comm

"Copy that" she said and pressed the button. The beacon lights began to glow and instantly a signal began to flash across Heilsa's helmet HUD. She tapped her helmet

"Control, I have the signal on my comm. Can you confirm?"

"Copy that. We have the signal. Proceed back to hanger. Advise fuel status before entering atmosphere"

"Instructions received" she replied and headed back to her fighter, the low gravity making sure that she had to be careful about her movements.

"Control, patch me through to the General, please"

"Affirmative. One moment" came a response

"Kim here"

"General, I'm curious. How long will it take the fleet to pick up this transmission?"

"I don't know. It reached up to twenty L Y. So if there are any ships in that range, then they should get it instantly. If not, they may not get it at all"

"Anything I can do to boost the signal?"

"I was hoping you wouldn't ask that"

"Why?"

"Because" Kim said "We don't have any power source still around that could do that without compromising our defences Except for your fighter, but then you would be stranded up there" Kim said and waited for a response. None came.

"Lieutenant?" Kim asked. Again, a pause.

"Tell me what to do" Heilsa said

"Lieutenant, I cannot ask nor order you to do this"

"You don't have to General, I volunteer. My air tanks are still at full and I will leave enough power to lift the fighter off the moon and then I can just drift and splashdown in the water. How far would the signal reach?"

"Sixty L Y" Kim said "Which is in range of at least two research stations, I think"

"Good enough. Tell me what to do"

xxxx xxxx

Sarah had sat herself down in a dark corner, disappointed that Kim hadn't authorized the mission. Instinctively, she began to clean her weapon, scrubbing out all the dirt and grime that had built up. It had always helped to keep her mind busy.

Right in the middle of cleaning, she got an idea, which struck her as brilliant. Quickly put her weapon back together and ran off.

She ran into exactly the person she was looking for in a corridor that led to the hanger where the chopper was stored.

"Major Allen, Sir. Just the person I was looking for"

"How can I help you, Lieutenant?"

"I need scanner readings from the chopper"

"What for?"

"I need to find the largest source of bugs on the rock"

"Chopper sensors can't pick up that. Not even capital ship scanners can do that, unless the bugs are out in the open"

"I know, I know. But there has to be some way of picking up bug nests with scanners"

"Possibly. But you'd need Fleet Research Labs for that" she said with a smile. Sarah shot her a look and then something clicked in her mind

"You've seen concentrations on the scanner" she realized. Allen pulled her aside

"Nothing I know for sure. All I know is that I saw some large thermal readings close to the _Allegiance_ crash site"

"I need to get my team out there"

"Why?"

"Because if we can take care of the problem at the source, then the attacks might let up"

"Could be a point..." her words drifted off as a trooper ran by and nearly knocked the two ladies off their feet

"TROOPER!" Sarah called out "What's the rush?"

"I need to find the General. I found something"

"What?"

"I fell off the hull and into the water. When I swam up, I was in the underwater part of the ship and you'll never believe what I found down there!"

"What?"

"A drop-ship. And it looks intact. Marauder bay too" he said. Sarah's eyes widened and her mind began to fill with ideas.

"Trooper. Take me to that ship" she ordered

"But the General, sir"

"Take me" she said again. The trooper nodded and Sarah turned back to Allen

"I'm going to need those coordinates" and she ran off.

xxxx

The trooper had been right. It was definitely underwater and quite a swim, but what Sarah found was beyond what she had imagined. It was indeed a drop-ship, but it was one of the new equipment drop-ships and, according the bay computer, that she had managed to activate, it was stocking a few Marauders and lots of ammunition of all varieties. The trouble was getting everything to the surface. Luckily the bay doors were not too badly damaged. The downside was that the bay doors were on the other side of the bay and with all the debris, there was not much room to manoeuvre Sarah tapped her comm

"Trooper, go get underwater cutting and welding torches. And do it yourself, quietly." she said. he nodded and swam off. Luckily several of the underwater cutters and welders had been salvaged from the wrecks. She then tapped her comm

"Strikers lead to Strikers XO. Sergeant Shelis, do you read?"

"This is Shelis. Go ahead, Strikers lead"

"Gather up the team and come down to the lower levels. The flooded hanger"

"Can I ask why, Lieutenant?"

"You can ask. And bring an extra power suit air compressor" Sarah replied and ended the transmission.

She decided not to risk flooding the drop-ship with water. Mostly because she didn't want to damage whatever was inside. So she began to drag pieces of metal to the side of the hull around the door, intending to create an airlock of sorts.

xxxx

Her reinforcements arrived shortly thereafter. Sarah had managed to drag enough pieces into position so that all they needed to have done is welded together and pressurized. That was what the power suit air compressor was for.

"Lieutenant, what's the plan here?" Megan asked

"We get into the drop-ship and then we fly out. Cut open the bay doors and fly out to the thermal signature that Allen found. Hopefully we can attack the bugs at their source and end the threat here" Sarah informed her team as the airlock was welded into place

"Has the General signed off on this?" Megan asked

"No" Sarah replied, as she swam around to the cockpit, trying to get a look in

"Lieutenant?" Megan asked

"No, the General did not sign off on the mission. And I don't want her to know. She seems to think that it wouldn't be a good idea" Sarah said and heard a groan through the comm "Theon, quiet" Sarah barked

"Lieutenant, are you sure about this?" Zelna asked

"No, but it's the best idea I could come up with and I keep getting this nagging feeling that we need to do something more than just sit around with our hands tied behind our backs. We need to take the fight to the enemy and hit them where they hurt" Sarah replied and turned to face her squad "I'll make this volunteer. Anyone who doesn't want to come, can stay behind and avoid any consequences from the General. Everyone else, let's get this ship moving" she swam around to the front of the ship to make sure there were no damage to the hull. Not surprising to her, when she looked back up, no one had left, not that she was at all surprised Then again, had anyone left, she knew that she wouldn't have thought less of them. It was, after all, looking to be a one way trip. She told herself that if it was a one way trip, she'd make sure that she took as many of the bugs with her as she could.

"Lieutenant, you okay?" Megan swam up to Sarah

"I'm fine. Tired, very tired. I miss food. I miss having at least a bunk to sleep on" Sarah replied

"I know what you mean. At this point, even a military rack would be a godsend" Megan agreed

"I know what you mean" Sarah grinned as Barcel swam up.

"Lieutenant" she saluted "Airlock in place"

"Understood. Thank you Corporal" Sarah said and began to swim over.

It was more than she hoped. Cases upon cases of ammunition, everything from pistol ammo to rifle magazines, rockets and missiles. Laser mags and grenades, as well as four Marauders.

"This is gold!" Anna remarked as she came through the airlock

"We may just have what we need" Sarah remarked.

Once her squad, plus the two other troopers, were inside the transport, Sarah began to speak

"Okay, here's how this is going to work. Shelis, Zelna and Theon, pick a Marauder and get it prepped. Barcel, begin going over these supplies. Everything that the assault team cannot take with it, I want it upstairs on the lines with the General as well as any other supplies that are on board"

"Lieutenant?" Barcel replied

"You are too valuable here. They need a medic here at base. Plus," Sarah shrugged "There are only four Marauders and this mission will be too hostile for troopers on foot. Get all the supplies out of the ship, and get them upstairs all at once. After we are gone. clear?"

"Aye, Lieutenant" Alexa replied and began to rummage through the supplies.

"And tell the General that I take full responsibility" Sarah added. One of the troopers stepped up to Sarah

"Lieutenant?"

"Yes..."

"Private LeBell, Ma'am"

"What can I do for you, Private?"

"I request permission to join the mission"

"There are only four Marauders, as I said"

"Yes, Ma'am, I realize that. However, you will need someone to fly this ship to the drop zone and back, unless you were planning on crashing it"

"I actually wasn't. That is a very good point, Private"

"Thank you, Sir. I would also add that based on how you are doing this so far, the General does not know and you want to limit the amount of people who know about this operation, bringing in another pilot would cost time and risk. As well, I am a capable pilot"

"Have you flown one of these?" Sarah asked, nodding towards the cockpit

"Not for real, Ma'am. But I have simmed several times and I have flown for personal recreation back home" he said.

"You do realize that I cannot order to do this. If you come along, you will do it of your own free will. Accepting all the risks that are involved, including the possibility of death or court martial as well as maybe prison time?"

"I am aware of that, Ma'am" he replied. Sarah put her hand on his shoulder

"If we survive this, I'll put you in for a medal and a promotion. Assuming the General doesn't court-marshal all our asses"

"Thank you, Ma'am"

"Let's get moving then"

xxxx xxxx

It took some time to get everything set up. But soon all unneeded ammunition and supplies were offloaded and floating out in the water with Barcel and the other trooper moving the supplies up and out.

The plan was simple, the doors had been separated from what remained of whatever held them in place and a small explosion would push them out of the way, making it so the transport could escape. And because the hanger door was already underwater, matching pressure would be easy and there wouldn't be much of a current out. But what current there would be, would help the ship leave the confines of the bay.


	10. Chapter 10 Regroup

Disclamer: I don't own Kim Possible and any related characters/vehicles/trademarked names to either her or Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles. However most of the cast is of my creation.

**Chapter 10**

**Counterattack**

"General Possible, Ma'am" Alexa said as she ran up to Kim and saluted. Kim returned the salute

"What is it, Corporal"

"General, I was exploring a lower part of the ship and I found a cache of ammunition and medical supplies" she said quickly

"You need help getting it up here?"

"I could use a few extra hands" she said as a large THUD echoed through the ship. Kim's radio crackled

"General, the fliers are making attempts against the hull. Holding so far"

"Thank you, Trooper. Stoppable out" and she turned back to Alexa "Find Sarah and get her to help you"

"Sir, about the Lieutenant..." Alexa began. Kim knew immediately what she was going to say

"Don't tell me"

"We found a heavy drop-ship Sarah, er, the Lieutenant decided to take the four Marauders that were on board as well as Sergeant Shelis, Corporal Zelna and Private Theon to do a raid on the Bug base that the chopper apparently found earlier. She only took the ammo they needed and left everything else for the base"

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised. If she survives, I'll pin a medal on her and then court martial her ass" Kim sighed "So what do we have as far as supplies?"

xxxx

Sarah had to admit to herself, she was having SOME fun. The drop-ship was pitching and rolling up and down, left and right avoiding plasma fire, Hoppers and Kamikazes It felt like they were on a very well designed roller coaster. Sarah sucked in a big breath and turned to her troopers

"Okay, listen up, this is how it's going to work, we're going to drop in and cause hell" she looked into their eyes "If it has more than two legs, kill it. That's it" Sarah said. Megan spoke up

"Lieutenant, that doesn't sound like a solid plan"

"The idea, is simply to distract the bugs and try and keep them off the crash site and away from the rest of the survivors. We are going to charge through and kill everything"

"Lieutenant, this is suicide" Anna blurted

"You all knew the mission, you knew the stakes, you could have stayed back, Private"

"Oh no, I wouldn't miss this for the world, I just figured someone should blurt out the obvious" Anna replied. Everyone chuckled. The klaxon began to sound

"TO YOUR Marauders!" Sarah yelled and stepped into hers. "Fight for victory" she said into the comm

"DIE WITH HONOR!" they shouted back.

"Good hunting Strikers" LeBell said from the cockpit.

Sarah felt the ship vibrate as the doors around her suit closed and the one below her opened.

"DROP IN 3...2...1...DROP!" she spoke over the comm and the clamps released.

Free fall was amazing, or would have been if this wasn't a **H**igh **D**anger **L**ow **L**evel **D**rop. And because they were dropping even lower than anyone had before, the danger was that much more paramount. The Private had had to disable the rockets that would have propelled the Marauders away from the craft, mostly because that would have shot them out too fast and Sarah felt that that was an unnecessary risk to her troopers. With only one km of space to slow down in, it would be risky. Even when they were authorized, H.D.L.L.D.s were done from about 5-8km up, to give decent room to slow down so they would not kill themselves. The fact that they would be so low only added to the reasoning of how desperate they were...

The drop went as expected. They landed in the target coordinates and there wasn't a bug in sight. What there was, however, was a vast mountain range, near the valley they had dropped into. '_A perfect spot'_ Sarah thought to herself.

"Okay, let's hit it. Heading for the mountain range" Sarah instructed and began to walk off, the other Marauders following in line.

xxxx

The hike up was interesting, as much as bleak, scorched, plant less jagged rocky mountains are interesting. Though from what Sarah heard coming from Anna, the landscape was quite beautiful, in an apocalyptic sort of way.

Sarah turned to her troopers when they started nearing the top

"Alright, we're going to be entering real bug country, so keep your heads up, ears open and cut the chatter. Clear?"

"Aye sir!" replied the troopers in unison, the Marauders shifting slowly.

"Alright. Move out" Sarah waved her arm, and by extension, the Marauder arm.

But before they could move much farther in, the shrieking call of warrior bugs filled the air. Sarah froze and looked around

"Sergeant Shelis, send a comm burst to the General. Message reads; Have made contact with enemy and preparing to engage. Message ends"

"Copy that, Lieutenant"

It was good timing. Almost immediately after the message had been recorded, warriors began pouring over the cliffs into the valley crater they were in.

"Lieutenant, permission to speak?" Corporal Zelna said in her deep Russian accent

"What is it?" Sarah replied

"We're in the kill box. We need to move"

"I'm inclined to agree. But it's too late. Back to back. On my mark we make for the pass at my three O'clock. I'm on point, Sergeant Shelis takes our six. Understand?"

"Roger that" they replied.

The warriors were closing in. They seemed like an avalanche of black and green flowing down the side of a cliff. Finally, it hit the closing point

"SHRED THEM" Sarah called out and let loose her guns, instantly tearing through the bodies of several warriors, causing them to fall and create more chaos, but it did not stop the onslaught of warriors.

With each Marauder responsible for a 90 degree arc of fire, the bugs were being mostly slaughtered, the few that were getting through were taken care of by the Marauder's auto-cannons. Bug carcases were beginning to pile up as they were slaughtered coming down the hills. One might almost guess that if enough bugs were taken care of, a complete dome might have formed over the Marauders.

xxxx xxxx

After what seemed like hours, the time had come. Sarah could feel the bugs tunnelling underneath them. They would soon burst and devour the team, She had to act. The time to move had arrived.

"PLASMA! HIT IT AND MOVE!" she yelled and hit the trigger. The rockets shot up from the back of her machine and lit up the ground around them in a bright blue flame

"MOVE MOVE MOVE" she yelled and hit the controls. Her Marauder began to move towards the path, pulse guns blazing, killing every arachnid that came within it's reticule. She quickly looked down at her sensor display to make sure her troopers were with her, when it beeped that they were all accounted for, she charged on, discontinuing the use of her cannons for the claws on her Marauder, ripping warriors to shreds as they proceeded. Her canopy glass became smeared with arachnid blood, almost to the point of her not being able to see out of it, but still she trudged on. An amusing thought about if these machines had kill recorders and how hers would be bursting at this point led to a small, mischievous smile crossing her face for a split second.

They quickly cleared the crater walls and found themselves in another valley, a narrow and deep valley that headed up, away from the crater to what Sarah hoped was a peak.

"ZELNA, RECON THE END OF THE VALLEY! THE REST OF US HEAD UP THE VALLEY SLOWLY AND IN REVERSE! Let's see if we can't plug up the valley with their dead." Sarah ordered. Zelna turned and headed up the valley as fast as the robotic legs would take her. The rest of them began to slowly advance uphill, their guns blazing and firing back into the on onslaught of warriors.

The pace was slow. Very slow. But it wasn't more than a three-quarter hour before Zelna radioed in that it was a peak and it came right out of the valley onto a plateau that was more than big enough to hold a platoon of the 141st Marauder Corps and still have room for a chopper. It was perfect.

With their slow pace, it took almost four hours to make the trek to the top, but it well worth it. The entire valley was covered in bug carcases. The problem was that the machines were beginning to feel the wear and tear. Luckily the laser mags were on constant recharge, so ammo wasn't too much of a problem, unless they lost the solar collectors permanently. The sheer amount of bug blood was beginning to get into the Marauder joints. They had been in constant use for the last six hours and after sitting in a pile for almost a week, they weren't in good condition to begin with. It was a disaster that could lead the death of her team. And that was something that she wasn't going to allow. Not as long as there was a choice in the matter and she had a say.

The plateau was a welcome sight, the Marauders once again took back to back stances and focused on knocking the incoming bugs off the platform. The jagged rocks that surrounded the plateau finished them off. So ammo was being conserved and giving the guns a chance to cool. But the machines themselves were getting worse for wear. If this kept up, they would have to be abandoned. All Sarah could do was fight and hope that the bugs were too concerned with them to care about the Allegiance. She doubted it, but it felt good to kill so many of the enemy. It felt like payback. It WAS payback. It was revenge. Vengeance. A gift for the attacks on the fleet that stranded them on this rock.

Their stomachs were empty. Their bodies sweating from the heat, wanting to collapse and die. But they pressed on. And once Sarah saw the swarm of hoppers on the horizon, she knew they had the bug's attention and drawn it away from the ship and the General and the survivors. Now all they had to do was hold line as long as they could

"We have incoming from the air at my Two O'clock" Sarah radioed. She took a second to compile herself as she swatted another set of warriors off the plateau

"Fight for Victory, troopers"

"DIE WITH HONOR!" they yelled back

"Theon, you are on AA duty, adjust your weapons as such. We will cover you on the ground. Unless ordered, you are to focus strictly on the air threat. Understood?"

"Copy that, Lieutenant" Anna replied and shifted her guns to the sky.

xxxx

The battle lasted long of the day and as the sun began to set, Sarah resigned herself to the fact that they would probably not last the night, despite how short the night was on this world. Despite that she was fairly confident that they would not live to see the sun rise, but that didn't stop her, that didn't weaken her resolve. If this was their time to die, then they would take as many of the enemy with them as they could.

"Hit the floodlights" she ordered and flicked on the Marauders exterior lighting. It shone through the impending darkness and pierced the night like a blade.


	11. Chapter 11 Twice Burned

Disclamer: I don't own Kim Possible and any related characters/vehicles/trademarked names to either her or Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles. However most of the cast is of my creation.

**Chapter 10**

**Regroup**

The sun set fast. The area was shrouded in the cloak of night, except for the parts lit up by the Marauder lights. Yet the battle continued to wage. All but the slowly charging laser cells depleted and even they would not last long. Then something happened. Sarah figured she was going insane when she saw flashes of light on the horizon and the sky began to light up all around them.

"Lieutenant Stoppable. Are you there?" came a voice over the radio

"Affirmative, this is Lieutenant Stoppable. Who is this?" Sarah replied as her guns ripped through a warrior

"This is Ranger One. We are coming in hot and among for close quarters engagement. Acknowledge"

"Close quarters engagement confirmed. We are ready to assist" she replied through gritted teeth

"Affirmative. We have lock. Do not move from your position" came the voice.

Seconds later the area around the Marauders lit up like a desert in the middle of a nuclear explosion. Bugs were charred and melted away. And just as quickly as it had happened, it was over and everything was still. But more bugs were incoming, they were heard over the range and they were not far.

"Lieutenant Stoppable. You are ordered to set your Marauders to self destruct and eject"

"What?" Who is this?" she demanded over the comm

"Your ride" came back as a chopper came into view

"Could you be a bit more specific?"

"Transport chopper. This is Colonel Gelfex. NOW MOVE!"

"You heard 'em, troopers. DO IT" Sarah ordered and hit the button. A chime began to sound through the cockpit and the canopy broke open.

The chopper ramp extended and the team ran up it, into the waiting craft. But as Shelis took a step onto the ramp, a Kamikaze thorn hit and went straight through her helmet and by extension, right through her head, killing her instantly. She fell back and landed on top her Marauder, her body draped over top, a lifeless stare on her face.

"NO!" Sarah called out and put out her hand, as if to grab her XO's. It took a second, but her survival instincts kicked in and she turned and bound up the ramp. On the last step, she tripped and fell inside, her squad mates pulling her in. When she stood up, she realized that she was not only covered in the dirt, grime and bug guts, but she was looking at a Colonel's uniform. She quickly saluted

"Lieutenant Stoppable. Colonel Gelfex. SICON Intel" He saluted back

"Colonel. Thank you for the pick up" Sarah said, offering her hand, her brow covered in sweat.

"Well, we were in the neighbourhood"

"Sir if you don't mind me asking..." Sarah began

"Where did we come from? We just got here in the _Destiny_. Picked up your beacon and headed right here. The Admiral was going to pick up the General Stoppable, but she insisted that we come and snatch you up first. Though from the piles of warrior bodies we saw, doesn't look like you needed help"

"Well, we were getting a bit bored. So thanks for the save" Sarah said as she removed her helmet "Now the other survivors, Sir?"

"Being rescued as we speak. We have fighters to spare and choppers grabbing whoever is alive. But it isn't many I am afraid"

"I'm not surprised"

"The rest of the fleet is also on the way. High command has decided that this sector is under lock down until this problem is eradicate" he said.

"So what is going to be done about it?" Zelna asked

"These are bugs. We are going to stomp on them" he replied "First we have to stop and pick up the General"

"Oh joy" Sarah muttered under her breath. Luckily, nobody heard her.

The explosion lit up the horizon as everything within a kilometre was obliterated by the combination of the Marauder's detonation. Sarah took a quick second to look out the window and thought about her fallen friend. Her head hung low and she sighed in disbelief, her mind beginning to realize what had just happened.

xxxx xxxx

The chopper arrived quickly at the site of the _Valkyrie_ crash. Sarah was in the cockpit and they could see the fires rising from the hull

"What happened?" she asked and stood up

"Apparently the bugs decided to use long range plasma to attack. Luckily they didn't do too much damage

"I wondered why we didn't encounter plasmas on mission. Now I understand. DAMMIT!" She slammed her fist down on the console, "I should have anticipated this scenario"

"Now Lieutenant, you can't know every situation and how it will work. You made the right move. This would have happened anyway and it might have been worse had you not taken on impossible odds" the Colonel said to Sarah. She said nothing. Just gritted her teeth, with her head down.

"I failed. I tried and I failed" she said quietly, holding her head. Gelfex walked over to the comm and activated it

"General Stoppable, this is Colonel Gelfex. We are one minute from touchdown. Are you ready to head out?"

"More than ready, Colonel. We await your arrival" Kim said and closed the channel. Gelfex watched as Sarah walked off of the flight deck, towards the gun turrets.

xxxx

Kim watched as the transport flew into view and positioned itself above her, it's ramp extending as it came to a full hovering stop.

"GO GO! MOVE!" she yelled at the waiting troopers, ushering them up the ramp. Carrying crates and supplies they moved up the ramp, Kim stood beside and kept them moving. After the last one she picked up the crate that was lying at her feet and moved to head up the ramp.

"WE'RE ON, GO!" she ordered the pilot

"Going" he replied as the ramp closed up behind Kim.

Making her way to the flight deck, Kim didn't see Sarah anywhere

"Thanks for the save, Colonel" she said to Gelfex

"Glad to be of help, General" he replied

"Where is Lieutenant Stoppable?"

"I believe I saw her heading for the turrets"

"Thank you, Colonel" Kim replied.

She approached the turret ladder at the same time as Zelna

"General" Zelna saluted

"Corporal" Kim replied

"I was just going to talk to the Lieutenant"

"As was I"

"General, if I may, I think I should be the one to talk to the Lieutenant. You have more authority over her than anyone and I don't think she needs an authority figure right now"

"Very well" Kim replied "Come see me after we dock"

"Da, General" Zelna replied as she climbed the ladder.

"Lieutenant?"

"Corporal" Sarah replied, standing up "What do you need?"

"Actually, I was wondering what you needed" Zelna said, climbing over the top of the ladder

"I don't need anything. I'm fine" Sarah replied, looking away and trying to facade her face

"Permission to speak freely?"

"Granted"

"Any teenager who has just flipped through a psychology textbook could see you're trying to suppress your pain and alienating your team" she said. Sarah's shoulders sunk though she didn't turn around

"I got them killed. The Sergeant, all those people on the Valkyrie. If I had done my job they would still be alive"

"But you did your job. You saved many lives by diverting Warriors to us"

"But the Plasmas and Kamikazes didn't"

"You couldn't have anticipated that. No one could have" Zelna said

"The General could have. She always does" Sarah replied, talking about her mother as an officer

"We did the right thing. I think the Sarge would have agreed"

"Every time I close my eyes I see the same image. Her lying on the Marauder as we fly away. Me, unable to help. Unable to do anything"

"It wasn't your fault. She chose to cover us. She sacrificed her life so that we could survive" Zelna insisted

"Thank you, Corporal. That will be all" Sarah said without looking at her

"Aye, Lieutenant" Zelna replied and walked away.

xxxx xxxx

"Corporal, how is she?" Kim asked Zelna once they were back aboard the _Destiny_.

"Distraut. She was convinced that the mission would ensure the bugs left you alone and they didn't. She sees that as a failure on her part. And then losing the Sergeant was another nail for her" Zelna sighed "Permission to speak freely, General?" she asked. Kim nodded "Give her some time. She feels like she failed both the Sergeant and the survivors. Worst of all, she feels like she let you down, that was the real breaker for her. It wouldn't be bad if it hadn't been coupled with the loss of the Sarge. Her mind is fragile and it might break if she gets any more stress"

"Since when did you become a psychic?" Kim asked with a raised eyebrow

"I'm not, Ma'am. But psychology was one of my favourite studies in school"

"I see. Thank you Corporal" Kim said. Zelna saluted and walked away. Kim sighed and headed for the comm office.

xxxx xxxx

Barcel walked into the med bay, after getting out of her power suit and weapon, to see that it was a chaotic mess. Nurses and doctors moved from table to table, treating all sorts of wounds. Med bay that she normally recognized as plain and sterile white was smeared with red.

Picking up a nearby doctors kit she moved to attend one of the troopers when one of the doctors stepped in

"What are you doing here?" he demanded to know

"I'm the resident medic. I attended to many of these troopers on the surface" Barcel replied. The doctor turned to attend to the trooper

"Sorry. But I've had people in and out of here all afternoon. Can't tell who is hurt, who is helping and who is just mucking around"

"Fair enough. I'm Corporal Alexa Barcel" she introduced herself "They call me Angel"

"Doctor Thomas" he replied

"Nice to meet you. What's his condition since he arrived?"

"We managed to stop the bleeding and I gave antibiotics to fight off any infection"

"Okay, I'll take it from here" Barcel replied, looking under the patch as Thomas walked off.

xxxx xxxx

"Well, General, it seems you did your job well in the face of such odds" Admiral Horwizte said over the comm

"We did what we had to do, but we lost a lot of good lives in the process" Kim replied

"Speaking of casualties, do you have a final count?" General Tracia asked

"I do. Out of the two thousand that were sent, only thirty seven returned" Kim replied, looking at her data pad

"That is a pretty steep list" Lieutenant General Yerz said

"Indeed it is. We have to wonder about how this happened" Horwizte said

"Faulty intelligence. I believe" Kim said, trying to subtly blame INTEL

"But from where. We must do what we can to prevent this in the future" Tracia said

"I agree, Sir. But most of those who survived were saved did so only because it was all they could do" Kim snapped

"General Stoppable, I think you misunderstand our tone. We are not trying to place blame for anything here. We are simply looking at the situation and what occurred. We have already set up a investigation into how intelligence missed this" Admiral Helioa said

"We must also find out how a Bug colony was allowed to grow under our noses" Tracia said

"I have already ordered the Sixth fleet to make their way to your location. We are going to reclaim this world and destroy the bug menace" Sky Marshal Granger said, stepping into frame.

"Generals. Admirals, Sky Marshal If I might make a suggestion?"

"What is it, General?"

"We should just firebomb the planet. I fail to see a point in risking more lives when we can eliminate the threat from orbit" Kim said. The officers all looked and chatted amongst themselves

"General Stoppable, You have done your best in the task presented to you. You will be given a commendation and a merit for your accomplishment And when the Sixth Fleet arrives, you will be commanding the ground forces under Admiral McMillian"

"Until then, Firebombing is not something we are considering. We do not have the resources to commit to a planet wide firebombing campaign. Not to mention the tunnels that snake the planet" Helioa said.

"Understood" Kim said and saluted. The comm went dead. She cursed silently under her breath.

xxxx xxxx

Affixing a solid black armband to her left arm, Kim swept dust off her uniform. While annoyed that the _Destiny_ did not have suits that fit her, she made do with her tattered Generals uniform. With a sigh she walked through the doors of the cargo bay and towards the podium that had been set up. She paused for a second to gaze out at the faces of the soldiers and officers in front of her.

"Many of us would not be here right now, if not for the sacrifice of those who died. Their death meant our survival" Kim said, gazing down at Sarah "And we honour their sacrifice, whether they stepped in front of a thorn to protect a fellow trooper or in the crash when we were attacked. We honour their memory and their name by being here today. And we will honour their sacrifice by returning to the surface and driving the bugs from the planet" she finished. She took the piece of paper that had been inscribed with the names of the dead, she placed it in the centre of the coffin and backed away. Kim stood at the ready "Company, ah ten-HUT" she barked. Everyone who could came to attention, their heads forward and arms at their side. The belt began to move, carrying the coffin out to the void of space. "Present ARMS" she barked again. Everyone who could, and even some who couldn't at least tried, raised their hands in final salute and turned to face the outer window as the coffin slowly drifted away from the ship.

As it drifted away from the ship, Kim took a second to compose herself.

"Burial detail, dismissed" she said and watched as the troopers filed out.

xxxx

Sarah walked out of the service, bandages over much of her body, her black jumpsuit was torn in several places.

"Lieutenant" Barcel walked up behind her

"Corporal. What can I do for you?"

"Are you alright?" Barcel asked rhetorically

"I'm fine" Sarah said as she climbed the ladder up to the observation deck. Barcel followed her up

"Corporal, I don't need anything" Sarah insisted

"Lieutenant, SICON regulations article four section three line twenty gives medical personnel the right to relieve officers of command if said officers mental or physical health is deemed unfit for duty" Barcel quoted "Now, as your squad medic, you can let me help you or I can go to General Stoppable office and collect form thirty four dash A and have you relieved of command"

"Is that a threat?" Sarah replied

"No. Yes. Maybe. More of a way to try and help" Barcel replied with her usual friendly smile

"I just can't shake the feeling of failure. I let everyone down"

"How?"

"I went to try and distract the bugs so that the _Valkyrie_ would remain unharmed. But Plasmas attacked it and several more troopers died. If I had been on the ball I would have anticipated that"

"And if the Intel experts had been on the ball, we never would have come to this world. And if Command had been on the ball they would have expected something like this"

"What's your point?"

"No one is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes. You have to move on" Barcel said. Sarah didn't reply but instead looked out the window.

Barcel turned her head when she heard someone climbing up the ladder. Kim's head popped over the top

"General" Barcel and Sarah saluted as Kim stepped off the ladder

"As you were" Kim replied. Sarah sat back down. "Corporal, I believe you are needed in med bay"

"Aye General" Barcel saluted and climbed down. Kim closed the hatch and sat on the bench

"Sarah" Kim said quietly

"I failed them. I failed the troopers, I failed the Sergeant, I failed you"

"Sarah, how do you think I felt when I almost lost your father?" Kim asked quietly

"Devastated?"

"Exactly. I failed him then. As his friend and as his commander"

"But that was different. Dad was only wounded. Here people are dead. All because of me"

"Lieutenant, consider for a second that had you not drawn the attention of the Warriors, they and many of the Hoppers and Kamikazes would have attacked the _Valkyrie_ and cost more lives. Yes, there were a few lives lost and that is unfortunate, but, as a leader, you have to be aware of the cost to benefit ratio. In this case, the benefit was worth the cost. Consider that" Kim said and stood up. "We have one week until the Sixth Fleet arrives. I'll assign command of your squad to Corporal Zelna until then or you start feeling better" Kim said and climbed down the ladder, leaving Sarah alone with the stars.

xxxx xxxx

A few days later...

Kim sat down at her office and went over the data pad briefing from command, detailing deployments and operational objectives for the mission at hand. Her door dinged

"Come in" she said

"General?" Sarah saluted as she entered Kim's cabin. Kim returned the salute as she stood up.

"Lieutenant, what can I do for you?"

"Nothing much, General. I'm just wondering if you can give any details about the attack plan for when the Sixth Fleet arrives"

"No, I can't. Most of the details are still being worked out. I can give you some good news, though. All squads will be getting full reinforcements, so your unit will be back to full strength. You need to decide who you want to promote to squad XO"

"Yes, I have been thinking about that. I decided that Corporal Zelna should fill that role. She isn't Sergeant Shelis, but she knows her job and I trust her to do that job"

"Good choice, Lieutenant. That was who I was going to suggest"

"Glad we are on the same page then. Now I have the files on the new troopers in your squad. I suggest you look over them" Kim said as she handed Sarah the data pad Sarah took a quick glance at the names. One in particular caught her eye - Corporal Andrew Kultai.

"You're giving me a spec ops washout?"

"I am. I figured you could use someone with guts and reckless abandon" Kim said. Sarah glared at her mother, Kim chuckled. "How are you holding up, Sarah?" Kim asked in a much more calm manner "I know what it's like, to see others be killed."

"Yeah, I read the report" Sarah admitted "I know you nearly lost your mind when dad was injured"

"I also lost my squad leader. So I know what you are going through" Kim said

"I'll be fine, mom. I spent some time in med bay so my leg is healed, but losing half my squad, that's not going to be easy to deal with. I should survive though"

"If you're my kid, I have no doubt" Kim chuckled "And we'll discuss how you managed to read my personal dossier after this ordeal is over"

"I'll look forward to it. So what are we getting in way of reinforcements?"

"The star ship _Desert Hand_, one fighter carrier with a whole squadron, five trooper squads, a fleet marine squad as well as a Spec Ops team on top of full reinforcements for every squad"

"Lot of firepower" Sarah commented

"It is. But we need everyone we can get."

"Well, I guess I had better get the troops in training" Sarah saluted and then turned around and walked out, gripping her arm as she walked. Kim sat back at her desk and began looking through more data pads.

xxxx xxxx

When the makeshift reinforcement fleet finally arrived, Kim led the briefing with Brigadier General Ted Mackenzie, second to Kim, providing additional information. All the trooper Squad Lieutenant's; Ortis Oscello, LeWhay Aytus, Joshua Kersah, Marcus Cortez, Lucas Cosan, Alex Max and of course, Sarah. Also in attendance was the Fleet marine squad commanded by Lieutenant Amanda Mikare. From Fleet was Admiral Lindsay McMillian, commander of the battle group, Commander Lisa Kazli and the overseeing commander of all the fighter squadrons, Colonel Eric Iers. Colonel Gelfex from Intel was present and finally, so was the Spec Ops squad leader, Major Eric Setref. The last minute addition of a Fire team from the Marauder Corps had added Lieutenant Benjamin Effallt to the roster. All in all, it made for a large crowd, and Kim couldn't remember the last time she had led a briefing with this many officers.

"Thank you all for coming" Kim said to the officers "So here is where we stand. We have ten squads, four fighter squadrons and we are going to need all of them to complete this mission. And make no mistake, we WILL complete this mission. We will stop the arachnid threat once and for all"

"Our plan is simple" General Mackenzie stepped in "A planet wide search for the queen. Now I know that isn't going to be as easy as it sounds, but it is the best plan for the moment"

"Unlike in previous missions" Kim started "We are not going to be establishing a surface base. We have four days before the Sixth Fleet arrives with reinforcements. But make no mistake people, we will have the threat eliminated before then" she finished. Quiet murmurs rolled between the officers, too many for Kim to pick up on

"Now, thanks to Lieutenant Stoppable bold actions in drawing the arachnid threat, we believe we have a starting point in looking for the bug queen" Mackenzie said and pressed a control button. A holographic projection of the planet emerged. The spot where Sarah and her troopers had held the line with their Marauders was highlighted. Sarah felt a pang in her heart as the image of Megan lying on-top of her Marauder sprang into her conscious mind. She quickly put it aside and tried to focus on the briefing.

"So our plan of attack is this" Kim said "We are going to send squads to various points around the area to try to flush out the bug queen and then hit her with a tactical nuclear strike" Kim finished. A hand was raised in the back.

"General?"

"Yes, Major Setref?"

"Permission to speak freely?"

"Granted"

"The original queen was one smart bug and we are dealing with an enemy that is fully entrenched and prepared for our arrival. Bugs don't show themselves unless they have the upper hand and in this case, they do. They would know we would send reinforcements and they would know that we would be hunting her down. They will be ready and we won't be able to just lure her out" He finished. There were murmurs of agreement from other officers. Kim walked around to the Major

"So what would you suggest, Major?" Kim asked with a sneer

"We send out troopers to plant nuclear devices around the wide area and then detonate remotely once they are clear. Then we will either crush the queen or incinerate her"

"That is a good idea. But that still leaves us with the problem of finding her. Do you have any suggestions for that?"

"No, General"

"Your observation is noted, Major and will be taken under advisement. For now we proceed as planned. The operation launches in five hours. Get some rack time if you need it and make sure all squads are on their transports at oh-seven hundred exactly. Admiral, do you have anything to add?" Kim looked at McMillian

"Nothing to add, General"

I have something to add" Colonel Gelfex spoke up

"Yes, Colonel?"

"INTEL wants it to be clear that any brains that your troopers come across are not to be killed. We need them for study as to how this bug colony rose" he said. Kim was obviously not happy with that

"Make sure your troopers are aware of the strategic value of Brain bugs and should try to avoid killing them" Kim said to the squad leaders

"General, I'm not sure I was clear" The Colonel said, Kim turned to him

"Colonel you were very clear" Kim snapped

"Very well"

Everyone clear on that? Good" Kim reinforced to the officers "Anything else?"

"General?" Major Benjamin Effallt spoke up

"Yes, Major?"

"General, I'm just wondering, do we know that there is, in fact, a Queen bug and that it isn't just a outcast colony?"

"The bugs are acting exactly the way they have before in the war. We have seen what happens when a Queen and Brains are not in contact with the Hive mind and they are acting exactly like they were in a Hive. Bugs aren't independent creatures. Without the Hive they have no sense of what is what. Now..." Kim took a breath "There may very well not be a full Queen in control, it might just be a brain bug but it is still a leadership caste and that is our objective. Clear?"

"Sir, yes sir"

"Very good" Kim spun on her heel "Any other questions?" no one spoke "Then dismissed" Kim said and began to walk to her office when McMillian stopped her

"Are you sure this is a good idea, General?" the Admiral said when the other troopers were out of the room

"What else do you want me to do, Admiral?" Kim replied

"Take a step back. For your own good"

"What is that supposed to mean"

"In the week since you got rescued, how much have you slept?"

"I got in a few hours here and there..."

"I bet none in the couple of days before we arrived and add in the stress from being down there. You are going to get people killed. You need to step back, get some sleep and realize that you are making rash tactical choices and that never ends well"

"You do know that I have fought in war before"

"Kim, that was over twenty years ago. I'm your friend, you should listen to me. I'm not saying the mission op is a bad idea, I'm just saying that you aren't thinking clearly. You should go and get some rack time until wheels up"

"I have too much work to do"

"Kim, I can have any junior grade medic up here to tell you that you need to get some rest. At least go get a few hours sleep. you need it"

"I..." Kim stuttered and then sighed "Fine"

xxxx

"Is this Sahara Squad bunk?" Private George Hetlya asked as he and the two other new recruits entered the Strikers' bunk room

"Who wants to know?" Anna asked

"Private George Hetlya. This is Privates Cameron Fontina. And that, that is Corporal Andrew Kultai. We've been assigned to Sahara"

"I'm Private, er, Corporal Anna Theon, this is Corporal Alexa Barcel, squad medic and Sergeant Tamona Zelna" Anna said, pointing to each trooper

"So you're the boots that have been assigned to provide fodder to the bugs" the newly promoted Sergeant Zelna said in her thick accent, walking slowly up the sweating new recruits. At 6'9", she towered over the recruits

"Well, I, uh..." Hetlya stuttered. Zelna laughed

"Hahahaha, you'll be fine. just keep your head down" she put her arm around his shoulder and guided him to his bunk

"So what's your story?" Anna asked, looking at Kultai, who had move to lay on his bunk

"Not much to tell. I was in Spec Ops. Got booted out for recklessness"

"I thought that was what Spec Ops was known for" Alexa joked. She and Anna high fived

"Wait, you were kicked out of Spec Ops?" Anna asked "No one gets booted out of Spec Ops"

"Yea, I know the legend. You either retire in a coffin or live long enough to be a legend. Well not me" he finished as Sarah walked in the room

"OFFICER ON THE DECK!" Barcel shouted out. All the troopers stood at attention, Kultai took noticeably longer to get up

"At ease" Sarah said "In five hours time, we are going to launch an assault on the surface, try to drawn the Queen out and take her down" She said, walking the room "Now make no mistake, we WILL succeed"

"How many other squads?" Zelna asked

"Six other trooper squads" Sarah replied "Now, I want everyone in their racks and asleep. You have four hours of rest and no plan as to when you will get more so I want you to use that time. That's all" Sarah turned and walked out, heading for the officer's bunk room.


	12. Chapter 12 Hellstorm

Disclamer: I don't own Kim Possible and any related characters/vehicles/trademarked names to either her or Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles. However most of the cast is of my creation.

**Chapter 12**

**Hellstorm**

"GET THOSE FIRES OUT!" McMillian yelled at the crew members attending to the emergency aboard the _Destiny_. She lifted her weapon and fired at the Warriors bearing down on her and Kim as they held the line outside the main reactor. They didn't know how many warriors were on board, but they would defeat them all. They had to.

Kim was once again glad she had accepted this mission. She missed being out in the field, right in the action, right in the heat of the moment where life and death, victory or defeat was decided. It made her feel alive like nothing else could. Adjusting her sights, she pulled the trigger and put a couple more rounds through another warrior.

Fearing a decompression, McMillian had ordered everyone into atmosuits, the fleet version of Mobile Infantry's Power Suits. Sealed to maintain an oxygen atmosphere for the wearer in the event of decompression. Not as resilient as a power suit, but still able to handle a complete vacuum Everyone who wasn't in either a power suit or an atmosuit had been ordered off ship. Admiral McMillian, while known for her reckless tendencies, wasn't known to risk lives unnecessarily, especially if she didn't have to. Kim had commandeered a full power suit and had easily settled back into using it.

Kim attempted to line up another shot at the warriors when they collapsed into a pile

"Whaa...?" she remarked, wondering what had happened, when several dark blue power suits rounded the corner, rifles at the ready.

"Corporals Sveltch and Kan cover the rear, seal off any bulkheads in the area" Lieutenant Amanda Michelle said as she rounded the corner. She turned and looked at the two officers "General. Admiral"

"Lieutenant. Sit rep" McMillian ordered

"Two decks secure. I split my squad to move and seal doors along the way. We've secured a large portion of the area, but warriors remain and we are running out of ways to contain them"

"Okay, we need to corral them" McMillian said "I need options"

"I'm afraid we don't have many. We could clear the ship section by section, corridor by corridor, but that could take a long time"

"Dammit" McMillian cursed. Kim tapped her comm

"General Stoppable to bridge"

"Go ahead, General" Roty answered

"Confirm with the fleet that they have enough firepower if the ground squads call in a strike" Kim ordered. Silence.

"General?"

"Go ahead"

"Commander Kazli says that the fleet could have enough firepower for a surface strike, but if it's underground, they'll need the _Destiny_'s Antimatter rail guns"

"Copy that, Bridge. Stoppable, out" Kim cut the channel

"I guess this means we don't have time" Mikare commented

"No. We don't" Kim replied

"Can't we bait the bugs? Bring them to us?" McMillian asked

"What would we use for bait?"

"I've got an idea" Mikare said

"Go ahead, Lieutenant" Kim replied

"We decompress the upper and lower decks, vent everything to space, bugs included. Deck Four in this part of the ship is the uppermost deck, so we start with that one. The rest of the decks we corral the bugs, moving from two sides to this point, here" she pointed on the map of the ship "This corridor on deck nine goes around the main hangars without connecting to them. It also leads right to here. We push the warriors into that hall and then catch them in the crossfire"

"What if we don't get all the warriors or they don't fall for it?" McMillian asked

"Then we have to search the ship. They aren't getting forward of section Echo without ripping through the bulkheads, so those areas are secure" Mikare replied "But if the Warriors don't fall for it, we are going to be hard pressed to clear the ship quickly before real damage is done"

"Admiral McMillian, you have an incoming transmission" came Ensign Roty over the speakers.

"This is the Admiral. Go ahead" she said. Commander Kazli appeared on the screen

"Admiral, I have an official request from Major Setref to be allowed on board. He insists that his squad can be helpful"

"It would be useful to have a Spec Ops squad assisting" Kim suggested

"Very well. But they'll have to space jump. I'm not going to risk a ship docking" McMillian said

"Understood. I will relay that. Kazli out" and the screen went blank. The Admiral hit her comm

"There will be a transport coming near and having a squad jump out. Open the hanger doors" she said

"Understood, Admiral. Doors open" Roty replied

"Very good. McMillian out"

"Okay, we need to lure them here. Any ideas?" Kim asked

"Blood" Mikare said bluntly "Warriors are attracted by the scent. We draw some blood and leave it on the deck. The Ventilation system will carry the scent to the enemy and draw them here. We catch them in the cross fire in the corridor and take them down"

"Sounds like a plan" Kim said

"Let's move" McMillian said

"Admiral, I would suggest that you stay here. We need people to cover the reactor" Mikare said. The Admiral nodded "Corporals Kerty and Sheffield, stay here and support the Admiral" she ordered. Both troopers saluted.

"Let's get to work" Kim said with a grin.

xxxx xxxx

"Theon, Get scans for the General" Sarah ordered "Zelna, Kultai, spread out and cover the cliff sides for Warriors. Hetlya, Fontina, cover the tunnel, Fontina with me"

"Where are you going?" Cosan asked

"Place some charges, in case we need to reopen a side tunnel to get out of here" Sarah replied

"Medech and Remare, go with them" Cosan ordered two of his troopers. Both saluted and walked after Sarah "Corporal Loke and Private Yue, I want geoscientific of the area. Find us options out of here" they both nodded and moved off.

It wasn't a long walk back, but still was a ways

"Where do we place the charges?" Fontina asked

"Right along the wall. If you look closely, you can see that sections have been filled in, sealing off other passages" Sarah replied, flipping down her visor "Problem is, not sure how deep the fill is" she said as she scanned the rock, looking for a weak point "Could be very thin, could be meters thick" she ran her hand along the rock face "Here, this should do" she gestured for a charge, which Fontina handed to her. Pressing down on the arming keys, she wedged it into the rock face "Place two more charges there and there" Sarah instructed the other two troopers, pointing at two other sections of the rock face "Link them together and then to remote detonation" she ordered. They went about their work, switching on the wireless transmitters and priming the small explosive charges.

"Okay, let's move" she gestured for them to head back after the last charge was in place.

"What do you have for me?" Sarah asked when they returned to the ledge

"Well, it's a mass alright. It is a mass of muscle and tissue with I think is a large central brain. But the rest of it, I have no idea" Anna reported

"It is a brain alright" Barcel cut in

"Corporal?" Sarah asked

"It's a brain. But more than that. you see these sacks near it's outer shell on the underside? Those are egg sacs. And by my best guess, this thing must produce them on an incredible scale. And you see these large tips and masses towards the top of it?" she asked, pointing to the diagram "Those look like antennae and there is a lot of them"

"Which means?" Cosan asked

"Which means that either this thing is a freak of nature and just has those things to have them or it is a super powerful bug with the capability to communicate with all the bugs at once and influence them"

"You mean a hive mind" Kultai suggested

"Yes, exactly. We may be looking at the physical form of the Arachnid hive mind. Possibly even the King bug, for lack of a better term. Might even be the creator bug"

"Now that's creepy" Fontina commented

"It is. Can we destroy it?" Sarah asked Barcel

"Not a chance. Not with what we have on hand. See that exoskeleton? Look at how thick it is. Even a small nuke might not break it" Barcel replied

"So we need an Ob-strike" Zelna suggested

"Yes, but if you look at this geoscan..." Cosan chimed in "We're a couple of good, solid kilometres underground. Airstrikes or even ob-strikes wouldn't penetrate"

"We can figure it out later. We need to move" Sarah said, looking at several bugs that had just noticed them. "If they know, then that thing knows. And if that thing knows, then we're..."

"...Gonna need a bigger can of bug spray" Kultai finished. A couple of troopers smirked at him. Sarah looked over at Fontina

"Pull the trigger, let's get out of here" then she looked at Zelna "Drop a couple of tracer beacons. Set them to go off in twelve hours" she ordered. the Sergeant nodded and pulled them out, set the timers and tossed one off the cliff, the other she slid under a rock off the to the side of the tunnel entrance, she then hit her own suit clock to beep in twelve hours

"Done, Lieutenant"

"Good, now fall back!" Sarah ordered just as the fist Warrior crawled over the ledge. She leaned back and fired a few rounds from her rifle, killing the bug and sending it falling over the cliff. Other troopers turned and began firing at the Warriors that were coming up over the ledge. Most of them stopped moving, in fact, to get a better aim

"HIT THE CHARGES!" Sarah ordered. Fontina pulled out the detonator, flipped it in the air and pressed the button when she caught it. The three charges detonated simultaneously.

The explosion rocked the tunnel and threw troopers off their feet, but luckily the tunnel didn't collapse on them. They kept firing, even though they had fallen down.

"MOVE!" Sarah ordered reaching out her hand to Zelna, who grabbed her hand and was hoisted up. Sarah fired her rifle, covering the troopers who were still getting on their feet. The pulse rounds pierced a Warrior and it flopped down, lifeless. She fired again, missing the nerves on another one, but putting several large holes in it. It struggled and then fell to the side, on top of another Warrior. Kultai fired his weapon, putting several precise rounds in the crushed warrior. He readied the launcher on his rifle and let fly a grenade into the large and growing cluster of Warriors that were now making their way down the tunnel.

The troopers were slowly backing up, killing off the hundreds of Warriors that were coming after them. Ammunition reserves were starting to run low and the pulse rifles were starting to stress.

"Keep it moving!" Cosan ordered "Through the side tunnel!" he directed the troopers as the bugs bore down on them. Lifting his rifle, he fired several rounds, killing another Warrior. He turned and ran down the side tunnel tossing a live grenade over his shoulder as he ran. It exploded and brought down a large amount of rocks, not sealing the tunnel, but crushing a few Warriors. He ran as fast as his power suit would carry him. Everyone did.

xxxx xxxx

"The trap is set" Lieutenant Amanda Mikare reported over the comm. Her and Corporals Mathew Stewart, Icsillia Matrina and Jun Hwy-Kan were hiding at the end of the corridor that was controlled by S.I.C.O.N. forces. A few liberated blood packs from med bay, cut open with the ventilation active would draw the Warriors into the trap. Kim and Sgt. Tyson Metridge and Androv Sveltch were in the vents up above. When the Warriors moved in, they would drop down and unload heavy fire on the enemy. Kim just hoped the blood packs were enough to hide their scent. The other two were back with Admiral McMillian, guarding the reactor. Amanda hated breaking up her squad like this, but it had to be done. Once the fracas started, the Spec Ops team under command of Major Setref would begin moving up the ship, corralling any remaining bugs towards the corridor.

"Copy that, commencing radio silence" Kim replied

"Understood. We are in position and awaiting signal" Setref reported.

"Now, we wait" Mikare said to the three troopers beside her.

They didn't have to wait long before they heard the crying screech and heard the sound of pincers clanking on the metal plating. Mikare readies herself for the confrontation, checking her rifle, making sure her boots are magnetized, checking that her helmet is secure.

"Here they come" she says quietly. The troopers nod and ready their weapons. The seconds pass as they wait for the warriors to get close enough.

"Remember, check your aim. Take only shots that will hit. We don't want to hit the hull, clear?" she reminded her troopers

"Understood, Lieutenant" they all say in succession

"Good" she replies "Let's get to it" she looks up at the mirror that had been placed so she didn't have to look over and expose her position. The Warriors were getting closer, closer, closer. Their pincers and claws becoming more and more visible, their cries becoming louder.

"3...2...1...TAKE 'EM!" she ordered and popped up from behind cover. Looking down her rifle sights, she let fly a burst of rounds, all of them hit their mark on a incoming bug. It fell to the deck, lifeless. Another rounded the corner, followed quickly by another. She and her troopers kept popping holes in them with rifle rounds. Mikare dropped behind cover and tapped her comm

"Major, they have taken the bait. You are cleared to move"

"Copy that. Moving towards you" Setref replied

Down on the lower decks...

"Okay, this is how we are going to do this" Setref said to his squad "We have a fairly straight shot up to the trap area. But there are a few diverging corridors. When we get to those, we split up evenly until regrouping. Leapfrog advances, last to first. We come across any open door, we seal them up and no pulse rifles, shock sticks only. We aren't here to kill them unless they advance. The idea is to drive them, clear?"

"Sir, yes sir!" came from the troopers

"Outstanding" he said with confident bravado "Move out behind me" he finished and moved into the corridor, looking down his weapon sights to make sure they were clear. He quickly moved to behind some cover in the hall and motioned for the next trooper to join him. Corporal Czera moved up and took the next piece of cover, then whispered

"Clear" into his comm. Corporal Kutya came up behind him and moved into cover even further down.

xxxx

Corporal Hetland opened the hatch to deck Fifteen and was thrown backwards by the Warrior that had been waiting.

"Woaaaah" she reacted, nearly falling back into the shaft, but managing to grab onto the side of the door and pulled out her shock stick giving the bug a big zap. It quickly backed up and roared and charged again, but Hetland was ready this time and pushes, making direct contact with the Warriors exoskeleton and giving it a rather large zap. It shrieked and jumped back, allowing Hetland a chance to advance towards it, giving it light zaps. Corporal LeGorfe came up behind her, doing the same. The bug continued to retreat.

Bugs may not have emotions or know fear, but they did have survival instincts and being prodded and zapped with a moving electrical charge did tend to bring out the baser survival instinct.

"C'mon you filthy bug, move it" Hetlend egged the bug on. It cried out, trying to summon assistance. None came.

"Ain't no one coming to help you" LeGorfe said with a sneer "Move!" he prodded it again. It continued backing up.

The other members of the squad were in similar positions, corralling Warriors towards the target corridor and so far, it was going smoothly. As smoothly as corralling giant bugs in the narrow corridors of a star ship could go. But they were progressing. Five decks were down and things seemed to be looking up as they entered deck Thirteen. Moving the bugs between decks was the real tricky part, but luckily the elevator shafts could be sealed off between decks, so with extra prodding, they could barricade and give the Warriors only one way to go. Or at least, as Setref reminded himself, that was the plan.

xxxx xxxx

"MOVE!" Sarah shouted and fired off a few rounds from her rifle. They connected with a warrior and it fell to the ground. She lowered her weapon and took off running, sweat beading down her face. They had been running for over an hour straight. After a few winds and turns they had emerged into a long corridor that didn't seem to end. Warriors were hot on their tail and almost keeping pace. Luckily their path ahead didn't seem to be obstructed. The tunnel did curve slightly at points and, luckily, it was going uphill ever so slightly. Sarah hoped they would breach the surface before they hit a...

"DEAD END!" Anna shouted, looking up from her geoscientific gear

"TROOPERS, FIREWALL!" Cosan stopped and shouted. Following the order, every trooper immediately stopped, turned on their heel to face the Warriors. Some stood, some knelt, but they all opened up with a barrage of pulse fire into the oncoming bug horde. Many of the bugs were dropped instantly, falling into a pile on the rock floor.

But they kept coming. They kept advancing. Sarah could feel her fear, but she held steady, her finger rarely leaving the trigger for more than a split second. All her troopers were tired and almost near the breaking point, but they held the line.

Then an idea sparked in her head. She pulled back from the line and another trooper moved to fill her spot, she looked up at the rock ceiling.

"Theon, pull back!" she ordered. The trooper came over to her

"Yes, Lieutenant?"

"Get me a geoscan of the area. I want to know how far underground we are" Sarah ordered, looking up at the rock ceiling

"Copy that, l.t." Anna replied and pulled out her gear, waving it around the rock area. Sarah moved up to the front again, taking her place behind the line

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" she yelled and launched a grenade. The projectile flew out of the barrel and across the floor. It slammed into a Warrior and exploded, searing through the exoskeleton. Two other Warriors around it were also caught in the blast and ripped up, tossed to the side. But they kept coming, kept barrelling down. For every two Warriors the troopers dropped, the bugs moved several meters closer, it was only a matter of time.

"AUTO FIRE! KEEP FIRING!" Cosan ordered and held his finger down on the trigger.

"Lieutenant Stoppable!" Anna called out, Sarah moved back from her position

"What do you have, Private?"

"We're less than thirty meters underground. We could blow our way out"

"Copy that" Sarah replied and turned to the troopers "Zelna, Barcel. Assist Theon with excavating the tunnel. Laser mags on an angle. GO!" she ordered. Her troopers stood up, put an attachment on the end of their rifles, pointed at the ceiling on an angle and pulled the trigger. The bright lasers shone through the rocks

"PRIVATE YUE!" Cosan commanded, the trooper moved up to the front, flame thrower on hand. She pulled the handle and the stream of flame erupted right into the horde, burning many bugs to a crisp

"Launchers! Hit the ceiling!" Cosan ordered. The troopers launched grenades into the rock ceiling which collapsed on top of the Warriors, crushing many of them and creating a barricade for the rest.

"How long is this going to take, Private?" Sarah asked Anna, who was working with her computer gear

"Not long. Five to ten minutes tops" she replied

"And if we don't have five to ten minutes?" Sarah asked

"I can't make this go any faster, unless we had an actual drill. We're overusing the laser mags. The weapons were designed for this. If we push it, they might not make it" Anna protested

"Understood. Just go as fast as you can"

"Copy that, Lieutenant"

It didn't take long before a hole was breached in the surface. The bad news was that the hole was only big enough for one trooper at a time, but it was on an angle, so that helped a bit. Sarah looked up as sand fell down from the surface. Raising her rifle, she launched her grapple and, after making sure it was secure, she began to pull herself up.

As she did that, the first Warrior broke through with a loud screech, but was quickly dispatched with a few well placed shots from Kultai.

xxxx

It didn't take too long before the entire force of troopers were above the ground

"Sergeant Zelna" Sarah said "Seal that hole"

"Aye, Lieutenant" Zelna replied and tossed a grenade down into it

"Where are we?" Cosan enquired

"On the surface, that's what matters" Sarah replied with a grin, Cosan rolled his eyes

"Lieutenant, the air is extremely magnetic, I can't get a signal through to the fleet" Anna reported "But I am picking up a large metallic structure approximately five kilometres up ahead. Could be used to get a signal through"

"Good enough, let's move" Sarah waved her arm and began to run.

xxxx xxxx

Kim had kept quiet this whole time, her honed reflexes waiting for the right moment to strike. She watched Warrior after Warrior go by her to their death. All of them not noticing her and the troopers with her. Hardly her eyes even moved. Years of combat training and then years more of military discipline had perfected her in a being of almost robotic discipline and control.

Her comm beeped. She pressed the button her wrist and heard the voice of Setref

"Warriors are almost in position. We're entering deck Nine now with a large group of friends" he finished

"Copy that, Major. We are ready for them here. The deck is a bit slippery so be careful" Mikare replied

"Ten Four. General, they are almost in position for you" he said. Kim nodded her head. The camera in the vent that was linked to Lt. Mikare's position captured it and relayed the image.

"She copies. Standing by" Mikare reported

"Understood. S O Twelve out" he said and cut the channel

"Come on bug, move" Setref prodded the bug, sending a light shock through it. Screeching, it backed up into its kin. The herd was being prodded from the trooper squad. Any time they tried to break through and advance towards the troopers, a half dozen shock sticks came down on them and delivered a massive jolt.

They neared the final corner. The bugs in retreat. Setref stopped moving his squad as the bugs were around the corner

"Now" he whispered into his comm. Mikare and her troopers popped up over their cover and began firing precise shots.

The ceiling panels popped off and Kim leaned out, facing the warriors. She opened fire and caught two warriors in the nerve. _Even hanging upside down, retired and a desk general, she was still an amazing shot_ thought Setref as he dropped the shock stick in favour of his rifle. He quickly plugged a Warrior and it fell to the deck.

Setref noticed another Warrior moving and moved in for the kill. He fired. The shots connected with the bug, but not before a pincer managed to impale itself in Kim's arm

"Aghhhhhh" Kim yelped

"General, you okay?" Mikare yelled

"I'll live, Kim replied, holding her arm close to her torso, her Atmosuit splattered with blood.

The fight didn't last long. Within minutes, all the warriors were slaughtered. A pile of dead ooze and exoskeleton on the deck floor.

"Alright, that's done" Kim said as she flipped down from the vent shaft "I want a complete search of the ship. Every space that a bug could fit. Two person teams moving stern to bow. Move!" she ordered, clutching her arm as a medic ran up to her

"Sir, yes sir!" both Mikare and Setref replied and headed off. Kim made her way to the reactor core where McMillian and two of the Marine troopers were holding the door. Both Marines were getting ready to move

"You two, stay here and guard the door until the all clear is given. Understood?" Kim said to them

"Understood" Kerty replied, holding up her weapon

"Admiral, I suggest we head for the bridge" Kim suggested as one of the troopers bandaged her arm

"I concur, General" she replied


	13. Chapter 13 Patching the Wounds

Disclamer: I don't own Kim Possible and any related characters/vehicles/trademarked names to either her or Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles. However most of the cast is of my creation.

**Chapter 13**

**Patching the Wounds**

The broken hull of the _Allegiance_ shone like a dagger in the desert as Stoppable's Strikers and Cosan's Commandos made their way across the dunes.

"Jump jets up to the top. Don't trust the inside" Sarah ordered and flicked her jet pack, soaring over the ruins to the bridge, or what was left of it. There were still bodies scattered all over.

With the rest of the troopers up, Sarah turned to Anna

"Set up a comm buoy. We need extraction asap. And tell fleet to recall all squads"

"Aye, Lieutenant" she replied and went to work. As Sarah walked, she noticed a large green object. Picking it up, she realized it was a power suit armour shoulder pauldrin. It had the letters S T O P P on it. It was part of her old armor. She took a moment to reflect on just how far she had come since finishing OCS, in her life, in her world.

"Never thought I'd find myself back here" Barcel commented to Zelna as the two troopers kept watch on the top of the hull

"Me either. Funny how life throws you curve balls" the Sergeant replied

"Yeah, talk about a nice big curve" Barcel replied with an obvious bout of sarcasm

"Yeah" Zelna replied, not paying attention, she flipped down her visor

"What do you see?" Barcel asked

"Something on the dunes, but I can't see because of the heat distortions" she said "It looks like it's reflecting light. Could be metallic"

"Let me check it out" Barcel said and pulled out her specialized weapon. She had been allowed to build her own rifle specialized for her talents as a sniper

"Eleven o'clock, two kilometres out"

"Okay, I think I see it" Barcel said "It is reflecting light alright. But I don't know what it could be. Doesn't look like wreckage from this distance. I think maybe it...oh no"

"What? What is it?" Zelna asked quickly. Barcel tapped her comm

"Lieutenant Stoppable, Lieutenant Cosan, we have Warriors incoming. One click out" Barcel reported

"Copy that, Corporal. Feel free to pick them off. We'll set up down here" Sarah replied

"Aye, Lieutenant" Barcel replied with a grin. She lay down on the ship hull and pulled out the rifle's bi-pod, setting it on the deck

"Lieutenant Stoppable?" Zelna enquired

"Yes, Sergeant?"

"Just reporting that we have spotted a large metallic looking object in the desert, about two kilometres to the ship's two o'clock"

"Noted. Anything else?" Sarah asked

"Nothing"

"Keep us covered up there. We're working on a radio patch down here"

"Understood" Zelna replied and closed the channel.

"Another down" Barcel reported, looking through her scope "Two more. Another. Hit and killed" she kept saying. Zelna flipped her visor down and watched as one by one Warriors fell to the ground. When compared to the size of the horde, a few killed off didn't seem to make a difference.

"Theon, we need that radio link" Sarah said with unease in her voice

"I'm working, Lieutenant. But the charged atmosphere here in the desert is having a negative effect. I thought I broke through it, but still nothing. Unless..."

"Unless what?" Sarah enquired

"Unless I am getting through, but the fleet isn't in orbit anymore. It's a fairly weak signal and if they weren't in direct orbit then the signal would stand no chance of reaching them"

"Why would they leave orbit?" Cosan asked

"I don't know. Maybe to avoid plasma fire?" Kultai suggested

"That would be a plausible reason to move. But they would leave a comm drone in orbit"

"Unless they didn't know about the magnetics in the sand, then they wouldn't need to"

"True. What if we boosted the signal? Juiced it up and routed through the main transmitter" Sarah suggested

"That could work, but they'd have to be really close for it to work. Like, lunar at the outside, but even then it might not reach. But it is worth a shot, I just need a power source" Anna said

"We had a bay full of vehicles and supplies. Maybe power cells from there could be used" Sarah said

"Yea, but we'd need to go down to the bay and I don't know if it is intact enough" Anna protested

"We don't have any other option" Sarah replied "Theon, take Fontina. Go down to the bay and grab what you can. If you find anything that might work, don't tamper with it"

"Aye, Lieutenant" Anna replied and stood up. Fontina followed her as she walked to the elevator shaft.

"We need to work on staying alive" Cosan said

"Agreed" Sarah said as they looked out over the sea of Warriors flowing towards them.

xxxx xxxx

Kim emerged on the bridge and removed her helmet, letting her long, flowing hair down

"Report, Ensign" she said

"We have secured the ship. Lieutenant Mikare just reported in that the last room was cleared out. They found a few more Warriors, but quickly dispatched them" Roty replied

"And what's the bad news?" McMillian enquired

"The bad news is that the ship suffered severe damage. She isn't going to fall apart anytime soon, but I wouldn't recommend moving her with more than fifty percent engine power and certainly no FTL usage until a dock crew has done some repairs"

"Anything else?" Kim asked

"Yes, General. Commander Kazli radioed in that they are having issues contacting the teams on the surface and wanted permission to return her ship to planetary orbit" Roty finished

"Get the Commander on screen" McMillian ordered. Roty nodded and pressed a few buttons on the console. Kazli appeared on the main screen

"General, Admiral. Good to hear you retook the ship"

"It is" McMillian replied "I want you to send a comm drone to do a low orbital scan for radios. We need to know how our troopers are doing" she finished. Kazli nodded

"Understood Admiral. I'll report back when the drone has returned. Kazli out" and the screen went blank.

"Now, how about those repairs" Kim went over to Roty

"The damage was extensive. We can seal off the breached areas and put barriers in place so they don't reopen. Maybe tear of interior bulkheads to reinforce damaged areas. Give the ship a bit more structural integrity on exterior"

"No, that'll damage it further. I guess we need a repair ship" Kim suggested "Call one in from fleet command" she ordered the communications officer, who nodded

"General, we need a dry dock. She needs to power down and have major reconstructive surgery. A quick fix won't do much except let her limp around this system"

"Get Lieutenant Mikare and her Marines outside to do a real time survey of the damage. We can pick out major issue with the hull and do repairs on an as needed basis" McMillian said

"Aye, Admiral" Roty replied and walked over to the comm station

xxxx xxxx

"Wreckage. Junk. Useless. Dead. Junk. Out of power. Dead. Junk" Anna sorted through the large pile of parts that had been the drop vehicles part by part.

"Is there anything we can use?" Fontina asked

"Doesn't look like it and most of these vehicles are scrap. Wouldn't run if we supercharged them" She sighed

"What about the power cells? For the radio"

"That's even trickier" Anna replied, holding up a spent power cell "See, these things are designed so that if the casing is cracked, they discharge all their power at once to prevent overload. And every one I've found..."

"Has discharged?"

"Bingo. Finding one that hasn't in this mess is going to be next to impossible. And we're likely to set any remaing ones off just by looking!" Anna sighed "Still, maybe we'll get lucky"

xxxx

"INCOMING!" Cosan yelled, leaning out from behind the console. He focused down the weapon sights and pulled the trigger, sending several shots into an enemy warrior. He adjusted his aim and fired again, making another warrior fall to the ground. Moving again, he sighted yet another. Down it went with a pierced hole in it's torso.

The horde approached ever closer. The Warriors were getting bigger. The sea of brown, black and yellow continued to get more and more menacing. Sarah couldn't remember any time when she had faced an enemy like this. Even just after the crash there weren't this many warriors. Not this much of a threat. Of course that time she had been wounded. This time she was more or less in good shape though she couldn't say the same about the quantity of her ammunition supplies.

She leaned on her rifle, adjusting the sights ever so slightly and fired a burst, piercing another Warrior. Pivoting on her left hand, she turned her rifle and faced down another Warrior. Firing, it dropped to the ground causing a Warrior behind it to trip and fall into a pile.

Barcel was having about the same amount of luck. She moved her rifle ever so slightly, took a shot and dropped a Warrior, it's green blood bursting out in a large splash. A sadistic grin crept across her face as she redirected her fire once again. Another Warrior dropped dead to the ground.

Zelna was firing bursts from her rifle, slowly watching as the ammo count went down. There wasn't much left and it was only a matter of time before it ran out. Settling down on one knee, she fired again, putting fresh holes in two different Warriors, both kept charging. She cursed in Russian and fired again, this time dropping both of them.

Amplified by her helmet's audio systems, she heard a slight noise. _What was that sound?_ she thought to herself. Looking over the dunes, she flipped down her visor.

"Kamikazes. Damn" she remarked and hit her comm "Lieutenants, we have Kamikaze's inbound from the South!"

"Copy that, Sergeant" Sarah replied "Get down here, both of you"

"Ten-four, Lieutenant" Barcel replied, lifting her rifle off it's stand and got up from laying prone.

"After you" Zelna offered

"Don't mind if I do" Barcel replied and crouching down, she began the slide down the side of the hull.

Both Troopers slid down the smoothed outer hull down to just over the command deck. Grasping the side, they swung underneath it, jumping in the window. Zelna walked over to Sarah.

"Lieutenant, we can't hold this position, we should move into the ship" she said as Sarah shot off another few rounds.

The sea of Warriors was only a moment away from reaching them. Sarah glanced over at Cosan, who nodded

"FULL RETREAT! INTO THE ELEVATOR!" Sarah ordered. The troopers all stood up and, in a line, moved backwards into the shaft. One by one they began the climb down the rungs in the shaft wall. Sarah stayed as the Warriors began to climb the hull, pulling a grenade from her belt

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" she yelled and tossed it. She turned and ran towards the shaft, quickly jumping down and grabbing onto the first ledge she could, managing to prevent herself from falling down further as the explosion rocked the bridge. All the troopers tried to hold on for their lives as the entire structure shook. Dust and debris rained down from the shaft opening.

"Nice moves" Cosan remarked as he looked down at where Sarah had managed to grab onto a ledge

"Thanks. Been years since I've had to work moves like that" Sarah replied. Cosan reached his hand out, she grabbed it and he swung her from the ledge to the ladder rungs with a resounding 'oof' coming from Sarah on impact.

xxxx

"Anything?" Anna asked

"Nothing but discharged ones" Fontina replied

"Dammit" Anna cursed under her breath. As she leaned down to move away more bits of scrap, her comm began to beep. Putting her hand to her helmet, she began to speak

"This is Private Anna Theon. Can anyone hear me?" she said

"This is Communications drone alpha three" came the reply "Relaying for fleet"

"Begin recording" Anna ordered

"Recording" the drone replied

"This is Private Anna Theon, Sahara Squad. Two M.I. squads trapped in the wreck of the _Allegiance_ and requesting immediate dust off ASAP. I repeat, ASAP. Situation is extremely hostile. Atmospheric magnetism hampering communications. The bug nest and Queen has been found. Repeat, the bug nest and the bug Queen have been located" she stopped "Transmit"

"Recording terminated. Transmitting to _Desert Hand_" the drone told her. Anna hit her comm link

"Lieutenant Stoppable, do you read?"

"Go ahead, Private" Sarah replied

"Fleet comm drone has just made contact. I've relayed a message to the fleet that we need pick up and have found the enemy nest"

"Very good. Any reply?"

"Negative"

"Keep the channels open and let me know if anything comes up. We are on our way down"

"Copy that" Anna replied and closed the link.

xxxx xxxx

"Admiral McMillian, General Stoppable, we have an incoming transmission from Commander Kazli" Ensign Roty informed the two commanders

"On viewer" McMillian replied as she sat in the commander's seat. Kazli appeared on the screen

"Report" McMillian asked

"Our communications drone has made contact with the ground teams. There have been a few casualties"

"Any news on my daughter?" Kim asked, clutching her bandage.

"We received this transmission" Kazli said and pressed a button on her console

"This is Private Anna Theon, Sahara Squad. Two M.I. squads trapped in the wreck of the _Allegiance_ and requesting immediate dust off ASAP. I repeat, ASAP. Situation is extremely hostile. Atmospheric magnetic hampering communications. The bug nest and Queen has been found. Repeat, the bug nest and the bug Queen have been located" the transmission cut off. Kim turned to Roty

"Ensign, have a transport prepped in the hanger and get Major Setref and his squad to meet me on board" She said, Roty nodded "Commander Kazli, ready pickups. Get our troopers off that planet. I want transports and fighter escorts on station" she ordered.

"What about your arm?" McMillian asked

"We can't wait for another pilot and I can still fly. Besides, I am NOT letting her die down there" Kim said. McMillian hesitated and then nodded.

"Aye, General" Kazli replied. Kim looked over at McMillian, knowing that the Admiral was the only one who could over rule her order. McMillian did nothing that seemed to be over ruling the order, so Kim began to walk off the bridge

"General" McMillian said

"Yes, Admiral?" Kim asked, dreading that she might be over ruled.

"Good luck"

"Thank you" Kim replied and stepped into the lift.

xxxx

"Are we clear on the mission?" Kim asked as she stepped into the hangar

"Sir, yes sir!" they replied

"Outstanding. Major, move out" Kim ordered

"You heard the General, MOVE" Setref ordered his troopers, who ran up the ramp of the transport

"General, one question, if I may?" Setref asked as he and Kim walked up the ramp

"Go ahead, Major"

"I didn't see a pilot come on board, who is flying?" he asked

"Why that would be me" Kim replied with a smirk "Take the co-pilot seat. I have quite a bit of experience piloting, but with my injury, I will need assistance.

"Aye, General" he replied and sat down. Kim took her seat in the pilot's seat

"Sergeant Luika, Corporal LeGorfe, get on the turrets, we'll need the cover fire" Kim said over the comm as she put her helmet on

"Aye, General" came back from the hold as the troopers moved to their positions.

"_Destiny_ command, this is transport _Arcturus_ requesting launch clearance"

"_Arcturus_, this is command, you are cleared for departure"

"Roger that command" Kim closed the channel and completed the transport's power up sequence. She grabbed the control flight stick, her arm aching and her bandage turning red. Easing the throttle, she manoeuvred the ship out of the bay. Once in open space, she hit the boosters to full thrust, roaring towards the planet.


	14. Chapter 14 Retrevial

Disclamer: I don't own Kim Possible and any related characters/vehicles/trademarked names to either her or Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles. However most of the cast is of my creation.

**Chapter 14**

**Retrieval**

Nearing the target, Kim hit the intercom, flexing her injured wrist.

"Touchdown in two minutes. Snipers, check your sights, gunners warm up your belts, shooters check your ammo reserves and backup reserves" She could hear the troopers in the back looking over their weapons.

Setref activated the communications array

"Sahara Squad, come in. Sahara Squad, do you read?" he said over the comm.

Silence.

"This is Sergeant Zelna of Sahara Squad" came over the comm with the sound of gunfire in the background

"This is Major Setref, S.I.C.O.N. Special Forces. We are coming in for retrieval. We will be on your location in two minutes"

"Understood. We'll try to make it outside. Be careful on approach, Kamikazes are in the air and circling"

"Threat noted. Get yourselves ready for pickup"

"We are within the crash hull and in retreat. We will attempt to make our way to the hull for pick up. Will advise further upon situational warrants. Sahara out" and closed the channel.

The transport emerged from the clouds over top of the crash site. Kim shifted the transport to the right, barely avoiding a collision with a Kamikaze.

"Gunners, fire at will" Setref ordered from his seat. Seconds later both turrets, one on either side of the transport, blazed to life, firing round after round.

"Rusher, Eagle, this is _Arcturus_" Kim said over the comm "Gorilla priority. Flank around and cover our landing. Engage whatever targets you deem necessary. We'll hold station until area clear"

"Copy that, _Arcturus_. Beginning run now" Colonel Allen replied as his fighter pitched away from the transport.

xxxx

"Eagle, begin strafing run on ground targets. Cleared hot" Colonel Sam "Rusher" Allen ordered his wing man, Major David "Eagle" Kaldra

"Willco, Rusher. Warrior bugs en mass directly below, popping now" Kaldra replied, rolling his fighter. The craft began a steep descent, it's weapon bays opening and exposing the projectiles. "Target launch in five...four...three...two...one...Rifle One, Rifle One" he radioed and flicked the launch switch, sending two missiles streaking from the fighter towards the sea of Warriors "Splash confirmed. Target is burning"

Allen sent his fighter into a tailspin, avoiding several Kamikaze fliers. They dove to follow him, but just before hitting the ground he pulled back on the stick, sending his fighter back up in the sky and towards a large group of Kamikazes.

"Tally, bandits twelve o'clock high" he reported "Lock cleared. Fox Two, Fox Two" he pressed the missile button, sending two missiles racing out and striking the group of Kamikazes, killing several of the fliers and wounding several others. They fell to the ground with a resounding thud, right on top of several Warriors, crushing them into a pile of goo.

Kaldra brought his fighter down low to the ground and pulled the trigger, letting loose the pulse cannons. The rounds tore through the sea of Warriors, shredding dozens to pulp in a matter of seconds. Pulling back on the stick, he raised the fighter off the ground just as several Kamikaze thorns impacted the hull.

"I'm hit" he reported

"How bad is the damage?" Allen replied

"Superficial, but I have some very adoring fans who won't let go" Kalra reported, pitching the craft from left to right rapidly

"I have a lock on bandits. On my mark, hard break starboard Ninety degrees"

"Willco Rusher" Kaldra replied, still pitching his fighter

"Mark!" Allen ordered. Kaldra jerked the stick to the right. His fighter began the sudden turn. Moving out of the line of fire just as Allen opened up with his guns, sending round after round into the Kamikaze group. Those that weren't shredded retreated as fast as they could fly.

xxxx xxxx

"Lieutenants, transport inbound!" Zelna shouted out over the gunfire

"Are they going to be able to land in all this?" Cosan asked, jumping behind some debris

"Probably not" Sarah replied, firing off several shots at an approaching Warrior, putting several holes in one of it's legs and causing it to shriek and stumble.

Lowering her rifle, she vaulted over the debris while Anna provided cover fire. Before Sarah even landed on her feet, two more Warriors had fallen dead to the ground.

"We need a way topside" Sarah stated as she let go a burst from her rifle into the growing pile of Warriors "Barcel, Theon, find us a way out, NOW" she ordered

"Copy that, L.T." they replied and moved into the nearest opening behind the line of troopers.

The narrow corridor, or what could be described as a corridor, was only wide enough for one to pass through at a time. Luckily they could walk straight with only a small bit of space between their shoulder pads and the bulkheads.

"This isn't going to be easy to get everyone through" Anna commented

"That's true, but it will also prevent the bugs from following us once we do get everyone through. So that's a solid reason"

They emerged into a wider area, bits of light penetrated from the outside. Dimly lit, but still casting an array of shadows. Putting her hand up against the wall, Anna turned to Zelna

"I think this is the outer hull" she said. Zelna flipped her visor down. "We breach here and we have our exit"

"That's true. But the second we breach, we expose ourselves to the bugs and we'll be overrun"

"So we breach once the transport is in position and run up the ramp" Anna suggested

"Could work" Zelna replied, lifting her visor. She activated her comm link "Lieutenant, we believe we have found a point of exit in a weak section of the hull"

"Copy that" Sarah replied "Feed the coordinates to the transport. I'm sending troopers through now"

"Understood" Zelna closed the channel and patched in her radio "Transport, come in. This is Sergeant Zelna. Do you read?"

"Copy that, Sergeant. This is transport _Arcturus_ on station"

"_Arcturus_ we believe we have a way out of the wreckage. We are standing by a weakened section of the hull. The idea is we breach it and exit through the hole. I am planting a tracer beacon to signify our location" Zelna said, nodding at Anna, who placed the beacon

"Sergeant, I am reading your beacon five by five. I agree with your assessment. Inform us when all the troopers are ready"

"Understood _Arcturus_. Sahara out" Zelna said. Kim pressed her own comm

"Rusher, Eagle, begin clearing Warriors around this position" she ordered as she sent data packets to the pilots

"Data received. Willco, _Arcturus_" Allen replied. He banked his fighter to the right and began to descend towards the ground "Eagle, take position at my six and follow my run"

"Copy that, Rusher. Taking position" Kaldra replied moving his fighter into position on Allan's tail.

"Nearing target zone" Allen radioed "Dropping ordinance"

"Ordinance away" Kaldra echoed, flipping the bomb bay switch and watching the screen as the computer confirmed that all the ordinance was released.

"_Arcturus_, run complete, the area has been cleared" Allen reported to Kim

"Understood, Rusher. Good work" Kim replied.

"Sahara Squad, this is _Arcturus_, we are ready to move in for exfil, over" Setref radioed

xxxx

"MOVE MOVE MOVE!" Sarah shouted, hoisting her weapon and firing at a closing warrior. The pulse rounds left the chamber and pierced several holes in the bug. It fell to the ground and another climbed over it. She fired again. _They're getting closer_ she reminded herself

"SARAH! MOVE IT!" Cosan yelled "EVERYONE IS THROUGH!". She moved ever so slowly towards the narrow passage, but the bugs continued to advance on her.

"SARAH, MOVE!" Cosan yelled again

"I can't" she replied "I move and they can get towards everyone else. I won't let that happen. GO!" she yelled over the sound of her rifle firing.

Cosan checked his pockets

"Grenades. I need grenades" he said

"Here" Kuts tossed him one and then another

"Gracias. Call in the transport. We need to get out of here!" he ordered

"Aye, sir!" Zelna replied and tapped her comm. Cosan moved through the corridor towards Sarah.

"I thought I told you to go!" Sarah barked at Cosan

"Since when did you have operational authority" Cosan replied and fired his rifle, taking down a Warrior. Another began to encroach on them. Sarah moved and fired, the rounds piercing the Warrior's nerve stem and dropping it instantly.

The two troopers, together in unison, stood their ground. The pulse rifles blazing and firing shot after shot.

"We need to go, now" Cosan said, lowering his weapon and pulling out the grenades. Pulling the pin, he tossed them over the bug pile and grabbed Sarah's arm, pulling her into the corridor. She didn't stop firing, the rounds from her rifle continued to flow into the bug pile.

xxxx

"_Arcturus_, be careful on your approach, Kamikazes are still in the area" Allen radioed Kim

"Copy that, Rusher. Shift your targeting to the sky and keep the area clear"

"Willco, _Arcturus_" he replied "Eagle, pursue and destroy bandits"

"Copy that, Rusher" Kaldra replied. Shifting his fighter, he focused on a group of Kamikazes.

"Bandits sighted. Twelve O'clock, four low" he reported "I've got tone. Fox Two! Fox Two!" he said, pressing the launch button. Two more missiles raced out from the hull, towards their targets.

"Good hits" Kim reported as Kamikaze husks flew past her "But try to keep the dead ones away if you can"

"Roger on that, General" Allen replied, banking his fighter away. Setref hit the comm

"Sahara squad Sahara squad, LZ is clear. You are go for breach. I suggest you be quick about it"

"This is Sahara. Copy that" Zelna replied. Kim banked the transport towards the crash site"

Zelna moved back from the hull and took cover behind a piece of debris.

"BREACH IN THREE...TWO...ONE" Anna called out and pressed the button. The charges detonated and the hull breached open

"_Arcturus_ NOW" Sarah radioed

"Copy that" Setref replied. Zelna fired her rifle into the swarm of approaching Warriors as the transport extended it's ramp

"GO GO GO" Sarah yelled, firing her weapon. One by one the troopers ran up the ramp.

Reaching the top of the ramp, Barcel moved to the other side of the transport and began taking potshots into the bug crowd with the rest of the Spec Ops troopers. She adjusted her sights and pulled the trigger. Another Warrior fell to the ground. Squinting, she took aim and fired again.

Sarah was the last one up the ramp, she jumped into the cabin with a resounding "Oomph"

"You alright?" Cosan asked, helping her up

"I'm good" she replied, walking to the flight deck. "Everyone accounted for. Let's fly" she said, standing on the stairs

"Retracting ramp. Firing thrusters" Kim said

"General?" Sarah reacted

"I'll explain later. Here we go" Kim turned to the radio "Rusher, Eagle, take station. We are out"

"Copy that, _Arcturus_. Taking station on your wing" Allen replied.

xxxx xxxx

"Oh my god" Anna replied as the transport swung around the damaged _Destiny_.

"You can say that again" Sarah replied, looking through the canopy window. Kim couldn't help but look at the sheer amount of damage that had been taken. Bright blue flames shot up as the chemicals kept the flames burning and it looked like a bite had been taken out of the hull.

Sarah finally allowed herself to breathe a sigh of relief as Kim piloted the transport into the hangar. The reassuring clank of the landing struts pressing down on the deck vibrated through the cabin.

"Flight deck, this is _Arcturus_. Landing complete. Powering down engines and engaging mag locks"

"Copy, _Arcturus._ Clear to disembark. Welcome home" the flight officer said.

"Alright soldiers. Get some chow and some rack time. You have ten hours. But watch out for the damaged sections" Kim said. The troopers all saluted and began to walk off "Lieutenants. I'd like a quick debrief in my office in fifteen" Kim added. Sarah and Cosan nodded. Cosan walked down the ramp, carrying his helmet and his rifle. Sarah stayed behind as Kim locked down the transport.

Holding her wounded arm, Kim walked out off the flight deck and into the cabin

"General, you alright?" Sarah asked

"I'm fine. Just a scratch" Kim replied

"Looks like more than that"

"I know. I didn't have time to get it checked out"

"Well thanks for the save" Sarah smiled

"I wasn't about to let you have all the fun" Kim replied "Now get out of that gear and be in my office in ten"

"Aye, General" Sarah saluted and walked off.


	15. Chapter 15 A Moment of Calm

Disclamer: I don't own Kim Possible and any related characters/vehicles/trademarked names to either her or Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles. However most of the cast is of my creation.

**Chapter 15**

**A Moment of Calm**

"I swear, I was asleep before I hit the pillow" Anna said at chow the next morning, scarfing down what food there was. Barcel was looking over Kultai's wound as Fontina had her head down on the table and Hetlya was quietly watching everyone.

"Tell me about it. I could use a nice bath" Zelna added, stretching as Sarah walked up, power suit and all.

"As you were" she said before anyone could react. Everyone sat up and looked at her.

"Alright apes, nap time is over. We have a briefing in the war room at eleven hundred. I want everyone there and..." she added, looking at Fontina "Awake." Anna snickered. "Everyone clear on that?"

"Aye, Lieutenant" everyone replied

"Carry on then" Sarah said and walked off.

xxxx xxxx

As Sarah walked into the briefing room, she took mental note of everyone in attendance. There were many people. Not all officers. Her mother, General Mackenzie, Admiral McMillian, Commander Kazli, Colonels "Bowtie" Iers, "Rusher" Allen, "Demon" Hotea, Artis and Gelfex. Majors "Starstreak" Uitol, "Needler" Thorn, "Spacer" McAire, "Eagle" Kadlra, Setref and Effallt. Lieutenants Cosan, Max, "Airhead" Heilsa, "Spark" Tuyl, Mikare, Uteya, Oscello, Aytus, Kersah, Cortez and "Tinhead" Belge. A full seven M.I. squads, one Marauder Fire team, a Marine squad and a Spec Ops unit. _A lot of troopers. A lot of lives_ she thought to herself as she took her spot with her troopers.

"Alright, let's get started" Mackenzie said, standing on the podium "Now, we have ascertained the location of what we believe to be the physical manifestation of the Arachnid Hive Mind. Unfortunately, it is out of our reach due to it being several kilometres underground. No weapon can penetrate that much solid rock to get at it and even then" he paused to press a few buttons. A hologram of the sphere appeared "It's outer shell is tough enough to withstand our toughest nukes. Now, the _Destiny_'s Antimatter Rail guns have, I'm told, a decent chance of doing some major damage. But since the _Destiny_ herself has taken damage, continuous bombardment from orbit is out of the question. So what we have decided is that while the bug itself is protected from nukes, the rocks are not. So your mission is as follows" he changed the hologram to that of an area around the hive. "Lieutenants Cosan and Cortez, your squads along with Major Effallt will drop suit into this canyon and draw the Warriors out of the tunnels at this point here. We've dropped in a few auto turrets and ammunition dispensers. Your objective is to keep the Warriors occupied until you either receive orders from the fleet or the Warriors begin retreating. If they begin retreating, your orders are to pursue and destroy, understood?"

"Understood, General" they replied.

"Excellent. You are Alpha Rock. Major Setref, your squad will drop right on top of the roof and plant nukes around this area. After you plant the bombs, you are to proceed to this spot here where the rock is thinnest and drill a hole down into the cavern. This zone is expected to be hotly contested with many hostiles.. Can your troopers handle it?"

"Won't be a problem" Setref replied

"Good to hear. You are Beta Rock. Lieutenants Aytus, your squad will airlift down to the _Valkyrie_ wreckage. That will serve as our base for the operation. You are Charlie Rock. Lieutenants Kersah and Oscello, your squads will attack these mounds here. Deep scan radar has determined them to be a functional part of the Hive. Nukes should take care of them. You are Delta Rock. Lieutenant Mikare, I'm putting you on the gunship. I want you in the air medvacing anyone who has been deemed unable to fight by their lieutenants. You will also provide direct cover fire for any ground squads that require it. Prioritize at your discretion. Lieutenant Stoppable, can you part with Corporal Barcel for this mission?"

"We'll survive" Sarah replied

"Good. Corporal Barcel, you will be on the gunship as the field medic. You're also one of our best rifles so if you aren't patching wounds I want your scope on the enemy, clear?"

"Aye, General" Barcel replied, feeling nervous for being the only enlisted solider being called out by name

"Good. You are Echo Rock. Lieutenants Stoppable and Max, you are our primary assault team. You will re-enter the tunnels and plant nukes on the cave roof and then move through the hole that Major Setref's team has excavated. At that point, all surface squads will be evacuated to a safe distance and the nukes detonated remotely. That should collapse the cave roof and expose the hive to the _Destiny_'s guns. If that doesn't work, Then we will recall everyone until the fleets arrive and at that point we will bombard it until it cracks. You are Foxtrot Rock." he stepped off the podium and McMillian took his place

"Pilots, make sure your birds are loaded down with as much ordinance as possible. With the fleet parked away from the planet we will not be able to return and rearm quickly. Spacer, take Starstreak and Needler. You will cover Alpha Rock. Bowtie, Eagle and Airhead will cover your wing as you keep eyes on Beta Rock. Rusher, you will fly the transport for Charlie Rock. Demon, take Tinhead on your wing to cover Delta Rock. Spark, you'll fly the gunship for Echo Rock. Now, because of atmospheric disturbances and the fact that the fleet will not be in orbit, we will be using comm drones. That means" she emphasized "No real time communication with the command structure. You will be on your own. It also means a delay in retrieval. Expect a delay of at least three times more than usual for pick up, which is why we have the Marines in play. I hope everyone understands that" McMillian finished and stepped away from the podium. Kim stepped up and took a moment to collect herself.

"Make no mistake people, this is the moment you've spent your life training for. If we fail here then it will most likely mean another intergalactic war and even more lives lost. I will not let that happen. We draw the line here and now. No more. Show those bugs what humanity is made of!" she said with confident vigour in her voice. "Skids up in six hours. Take this time as you see fit. Should anyone wish to send a message home, I have made cameras available in the caf, drop them in the box outside my office and I will see they get delivered. Training simulators will be open and running. For the pilots, I want you all on the _Hand of Thunder_ in three hours making sure your birds are ready." Kim paused, as if collecting her thoughts "I want everyone to understand one thing. You are taking on the impossible, an enemy that knows our moves and our tactics. An enemy that knows us better than we know ourselves. You are fighting it on it's own turf and playing by it's own rules. No matter if you survive or not, your names will go down in legends for generations. This is your time apes, fight for victory"

"DIE WITH HONOR" they repeated loudly

"Oorah" Kim replied "Dismissed"

xxxx

Sarah knocked on Kim's office door

"Come in" Kim said. Sarah wandered in

"Nice speech, General" Sarah said. Kim got up from her desk, her arm in a fresh bandage.

"Thanks. Mom always said I had a passion for giving speeches"

"I'd agree with her" Sarah said, looking at several of the items that were on Kim's desk

"I talked to your father this morning" Kim said

"I tried to call last night, but he wasn't home"

"Yes, he said that he was out and will be again today. I told him what we are doing"

"Was he worried?" Sarah tried not to show any emotion

"He always is for us" Kim said "But, I reminded him that there is one thing that we Possibles have that no one else does"

"And what is that?"

"A survivor's spirit" Kim replied "We are born to survive. I have and I know you will"

"Yeah, how many times have you faced your end and lived?"

"I stopped counting before the war even began"

"I heard about what happened when I was planet side"

"Who have you been talking to?"

"The Admiral. You didn't tell dad about that part, did you?"

"No. Getting my arm impaled by a Warrior claw isn't exactly good news. I didn't want Ron worrying any more than he already is. I also talked to my mother

"How is gramma?"

"She's good. Loving retirement. Sends you her best"

"That's good to hear" Sarah said quietly

"You're scared, aren't you?" Kim asked, reading Sarah's body language

"Heh and here I thought I was being subtle" Sarah replied. Kim got up off her desk

"It's okay to be scared. It's part of being human"

"You're never scared. I mean, standing on the bridge of a crashing star ship, you were a rock"

"I'm just better at hiding it" Kim smirked "A leader needs to not react to fear in the heat of a moment"

"How do you do that? Suppress the fear?"

"You don't. You redirect it. Redirect it to here and here" Kim touched Sarah's chest, above her heart and her head

"Thanks mom"

"Anytime kiddo" Kim replied. Sarah took a deep breath

"I still see it" Sarah said nervously

"See what?"

"Sergeant Shelis. I still see that image like it's burned into the back of my eyelids"

"Carry that image" Kim said "It'll give you something to fight for"

"I should go, I have to polish my power suit" Sarah said quietly

"Bring everyone back, Lieutenant. Including yourself" Kim said "That's an order"

"Understood, General"

"Good. I owe you a court Marshal, remember?"

"I do"

"Good. Dismissed" Kim said. Sarah saluted and walked out. Kim walked into the office wash station and splashed some water on her face.

xxxx xxxx

"It's nice and peaceful in here. Almost makes you forget you'll be going off to fight for the very survival of your race" Anna commented, lying back on her bunk.

"I wouldn't call a military bunk peaceful" Kultai replied

"Agreed. It's quiet compared to the planet, but not peacefully quiet" Fontina said

"At least it's not creepy quiet like in the tunnels" Anna pointed out

"That's true" Fontina replied, looking up from her data pad

"See? By comparison, peacefully quiet"

"It'd be more so if there wasn't any talking" Kultai snickered. He reeled back as a pillow hit his face "HEY!"

"Face it Corporal. You had that coming" Sarah said, standing in the doorway

"Lieutenant!" Kultai said, moving to stand

"As you were. Anyone seen Barcel?"

"Barcel is in the weapons locker, Lieutenant" Anna replied "She wanted to tweak her rifle"

"I think the Sergeant is in the simulators" Fontina replied

"Thank you" Sarah replied "Four hours" she said, looking at her watch.

"Aye, Lieutenant" Anna said as Sarah walked out.

"I'll get you for that" Kultai shot over at Anna as soon as Sarah had left

"Right" Anna replied "So why did you get booted out of Spec Ops?"

"Long story" he replied, trying to avoid the question

"We've got four hours" she countered. He sighed.

xxxx

"Damn sand" Barcel said as she scraped her rifle. Detaching the grip she placed it with the rest of the weapon parts. Grabbing a cloth, she wiped down the barrel and moved onto the stock, scraping at it's innards.

"Corporal" Sarah said walking in.

"Lieutenant" Barcel saluted.

"As you were. Just checking in" Sarah returned the salute.

"Just cleaning my rifle. That last outing clogged up the barrel with some real nasty stuff"

"You going to be alright in the gunship?"

"I'll be good. Probably be safer than you guys"

"Most likely" Sarah chuckled "Watch your back, Corporal"

"Will do, Lieutenant" Barcel replied. Sarah smiled and walked out.

xxxx

Standing in front of the mirror in her office, Sarah stared into her own reflection. Her hair tied back and neat, her face bearing several scars. Sighing, she ran the water and splashed her face

"You can do this"

Walking out of the washroom, she sat down and began to compose a letter.

_Dear mom and dad,_ it began...


	16. Chapter 16 Before the Storm Hits

Disclamer: I don't own Kim Possible and any related characters/vehicles/trademarked names to either her or Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles. However most of the cast is of my creation.

**Chapter 16**

**Before the Storm Hits**

Kim walked on to the _Destiny_'s bridge. McMillian was already there.

"General, you're up late"

"I didn't want to miss the festivities" Kim said

"True enough" McMillian replied, turning back to her console "All scans are complete and all systems that can be operational, are go"

"I like the sound of that. How about our troopers?"

"I was just about to signal operation start. Any objections from Infantry?"

"None whatsoever, Admiral" Kim replied, her arm still in a cast

"Glad to hear it" McMillian sat back in her chair and pressed the comm

"This is the Admiral, all personnel prepare for drop"

xxxx

"GO GO GO!" Sarah yelled out as her troopers ran down the halls towards the main drop ship bay, decked out in full power suit gear. Sarah stopped Barcel

"Good luck, Corporal" she shook Barcel's hand

"You too, Lieutenant" Barcel saluted and ran off towards the transport hangar, her weapon slung over her shoulder.

Rounding the corner to the hanger, she spotted Lieutenant Mikare

"Corporal, ready to kill some bugs?" Mikare asked as Barcel walked up the ramp to the modified transport

"Yes, Ma'am. Locked and loaded" Barcel replied

"Good to hear. Take your seat" Mikare said and headed up to the flight deck "We're ready to go, pilot"

"Copy that" she replied as Mikare took her seat in the co-pilot's chair

"Here we go"

xxxx xxxx

Sarah looked over the objective map, studying her targets, landmarks. Trying to point out tunnels, escape routes, everything. Lifting her head as the alarm went off

"Alright, fun time" Kultai commented, lifting his rifle.

"Suits, now!" Sarah ordered, climbing into her drop suit. Her suit computer beeped, acknowledging that all her other troopers were in their suits. It beeped again to signal suit pressure.

"Good hunting" came the pilot over the comm.

Sarah felt the rush of adrenaline as her suit shot out of the bay. The surge of her heartbeat as she saw the flames of atmospheric entry burn around her. As the flames dissipated and the sands came into better view, she got a look at where the sands met the grasslands just as the sunlight was leaving. She let herself admire it for a second before switching her mind back to combat mode. The built in altimeter clocked five thousand feet

"Jettison suits" She ordered and flicked the switch.

The suit broke away into several pieces, exposing her power suit to the atmosphere. She reached over her shoulder and grabbed the jump jet controller and let herself be carried gently down to the surface.

xxxx xxxx

"You sure we are near the tunnel?" Sarah asked Anna as they walked over the sand dunes.

"Positive, L.T.. The _Allegiance_ crash site is just over there. We should be right close"

"Let's hope so" Lieutenant Max said as he walked up, his squad in tow.

"Find that entrance, Corporal. The mission is a bust if we can't" Sarah instructed. Max nodded.

"Aye, Lieutenant" Anna replied.

"Troopers, spread out. I want a ten meter perimeter secured around the Corporal" Sarah ordered

Flipping down her visor, Anna scanned the surface of the sand dunes

"It's gotta be around here somewhere" she said quietly. As she walked, she kept looking at her hand ego-scanner, hoping to find some trace of the tunnel that they had created to escape.

Feeling something moving under her leg, she stopped and leaned down to investigate.

"AHHH" she yelled as she was thrown back by the surprise attack of the Warrior. It screeched and leaned down to take a bite out of her. She couldn't reach her weapon. "LIEUTENANT!" she yelled out as she put forward her boots and hands to keep the Warrior's jaws at bay as a burst of pulse fire tore through the Warrior. She rolled out of the way as it fell to the ground.

Sarah reached out a hand and Anna grabbed it, allowing herself to be hoisted up.

"You alright?" Sarah asked. Anna touched her wrist computer

"No suit breaches. I'm good" she replied, looking around "And I found the tunnel" she said, pointing to where the Warrior had jumped up

"Nice going" Sarah said and turned to the other troopers

"Sergeant, on point. Kultai, take the rear" Sarah ordered as they neared the tunnel entrance.

"Aye, Lieutenant" Zelna replied and moved to the front, her weapon at the ready. Sarah tapped her comm link

"Drone three ready to transmit. Recording" the drone's computer voice came over her helmet

"Foxtrot Rock entering tunnels at oh three twenty four Zulu. Transmit"

"Transmitting recording" the drone replied. Sarah closed the channel and walked forward

"Hooah" she said, waving her squad onward. Max brought his squad in close behind them.

xxxx xxxx

"This is Alpha Rock. We have started our assault. Warriors are pouring out of the tunnels at battalion strength" Lieutenant Cortez reported on the comm "Requesting air cover!"

"Lieutenant Cortez, this is Lieutenant Mikare, we are inbound to assist. ETA one point three minutes"

"Understood. Out"

"Weapons hot, people" Mikare ordered. Barcel pulled her rifle out and stuck mag pads on her suit. Laying down secured to the deck, she nodded to Mikare, who tapped her comm "Pilot, open the doors"

"Copy that" he replied as the cargo bay doors slid open. Barcel stuck her rifle through the opening, the mag locks keep her secure to the deck.

"Alright. Check your weapons, check your fire, check your targets" Mikare instructed her troopers as she grabbed the port side turret.

"Here we go" the pilot said over the comm, levelling the ship out.

"Fire at will" Mikare said aloud, pulling the trigger on the turret and sending a burst of rounds into the mass of Warriors. Barcel took a few shots, lined up her rifle and fired again.

On a whim, she angled her scope away from the battle

"Lieutenant" she said

"What is it?" Mikare asked

"Plasmas. Eleven o'clock. Three kilometres out" she replied. Mikare lowered her visor and looked.

"Copy that. Fighters, this is Lieutenant Mikare, do you copy?" she said into her comm

"Go ahead, Lieutenant" McAire replied

"We have Plasma bugs encroaching on the combat zone. Three kilometres out" she said. No reply.

"Copy that, Lieutenant. We will move to intercept" he said

"Much appreciated, Colonel" Mikare replied and retrained her turret on the Warrior mass, firing several pulse rounds into it and killing several Warriors.

xxxx xxxx

"Ugh, gross" Anna whispered to herself, stepping over the remains of a Warrior they had killed on their exit.

"You'd think the Workers would have cleaned up the mess"

"Not really. For the Arachnid Hive, there is no need to tend to the dead. They just let the corpses rot away and decompose" Sarah said, stepping over another Warrior

"That's not right" Anna commented

"You have to remember, Corporal, bugs aren't like us. Each of them is expendable, manipulable and committed to cause. They don't think. Rounding up their dead serves no purpose" Sarah adjusted her suit's intake "And there being dead Warriors here serves our purpose"

"How so?" Zelna asked

"They are giving off a wicked odour. It might prevent the Warriors from smelling our approach"

"Good point" Max said "It could give us an additional element to work with. Let's not waste it, shall we?"

"We shall not" Sarah replied "Move out" she held her weapon at the ready and began to move through the tunnel.

xxxx xxxx

"Starstreak, bandits inbound ten o'clock six low" McAire radioed "Needler we've got movers at twelve o'clock, pop to angels five as the shooter and we'll cover your six" she said as she banked to the right and fired a burst from the cannon

"Ten four Spacer. Pop underway" Alica replied pulled back on the fighter stick and began to climb into the clouds.

"Sweet lock. Fox two Fox two" Cassia radioed as she hit the fire key and watched as two missiles streaked out from the underside of her craft, impacting on the Kamikaze group. "Good kill" she said, veering her craft away from the debris. She pulled on the trigger and let fly a burst from her cannon, tearing through several Hoppers

"At Angels five in Popeye. Checking targets and beginning run. Goggles on"

"Copy. Return to cap after completion" McAire ordered

"Wilco, Spacer" Alicia replied and flicked a switch arming her bombs before pushing the stick forward and sending her fighter into a dive.

Past her window the clouds flew, the speed alone pushing her back into her seat. The G forces threatening to crush her into her chair. The heads up display clearly displayed her targets over the night vision - three massive plasma bugs. The altimeter kept decreasing as she sped closer and closer to the ground

"Sweet lock. Rifle one Rifle one" she said and flicked the switch. Three sparks of light shot out from under her craft and a second later, impacted with their targets in a flash of light. "Solid hit, returning to cap"

"Hit confirmed from here. Nice shot" Mikare radioed and ceased firing as the transport veered to the side to reposition. The sun had just slid behind the horizon and darkness was falling on the surface.

"Night vision" she said and pressed a key on her wrist computer. The transparent material on her helmet polarized opaque, illuminating everything below. The other troopers did the same.

xxxx

"Corporal, how much farther?" Sarah asked Anna

"Not too much. Scanner says another hundred meters before the tunnel" she replied

"Eyes open, everyone" Sarah whispered, her rifle primed "Kultai, Fontina scout ahead" she said, they nodded and began to move ahead.

Moving up to the wall Fontina shuffled along until she reached the corner and peered around slowly

"Looks clear" she said

"Check again" Kultai said. Fontina leaned around again, looking to try and spot hostiles

"Clear. Nothing around" she said, waving Sarah over

"Alright" Sarah said, jogging over "When we get to the cavern, I want a octagonal patter of rope lines set up stretching side to side. We need a way to hold on while planting the charges. Lieutenant, can you hold the ledge?"

"Not a problem" Max said "We should be prepared and assume we'll be attacked the second we enter"

"I concur. But let's not go looking for a fight" Sarah added

"Sounds good to me" Max replied

"Lead on"

"Don't mind if I do" Max said and began to walk forwards into the passage "Tagart, take Elieh and secure the cave exit"

"Aye, Lieutenant" Tagart replied and motioned for the tow troopers to follow him. Sarah watched as they took off at a dead run towards the cavern entrance.

They moved slowly as they reached the cavern entrance. Each on an opposite wall they shuffled alongside the rock until they reached the opening.

Peering out and seeing no enemies in the immediate area, they waved towards the rest of the troopers.

xxxx

Exiting the tunnel, Sarah pointed to the roof as Zelna, Kultai and Anna readied their grapple extensions. She nodded and they fired. The drills lanced out from the ends of their rifles, piercing and burrowing securely into the rock near the top of the cavern. Zelna pulled back on her line and began to climb. Her suit winch did part of the work and her own muscle did the rest.

A loud cry made Sarah turn her head.

"Warriors!" she said aloud and turned her rifle to face the bottom of the cavern, firing a burst. She was joined almost instantly by Max and his squad, all firing down the ledge at the Warrior horde.

"Bonn appetite" Max said as he and Tagart tossed grenades. Sarah watched as they fell towards the cavern bottom and exploded, tearing through several Warriors. She kneeled down and tried to pick off the bugs one by one. She pulled the trigger, sending a pulse burst into the horde. A Warrior fell over as Max turned to her

"We got you covered, go!" he said. She nodded and readied her grappling line. With the mount secure, she fired it at the top of the cavern. The drill burrowed into the cave wall and the line went taut.

Pulling back on it, she swung towards the wall, her boots landing solidly on the rock and began to climb. Hand over hand she inched herself up the side, the spikes on her boots digging into the rock with each step.

Reaching the top she grabbed onto one of the supporting lines and pulled herself up. Locking her suit into a harness, she turned to face her troopers.

"Alright, I want charges placed all around. We have twenty charges and I want them all used up. Move out" she finished and grabbed a charge from her pouch, affixing it to the ceiling.

Max switched out an ammo mag and began firing again, piercing a Warrior torso. He adjusted his aim to bring another Warrior into his sights when one crawled over the edge, throwing him back. Two of his troopers moved forward, pouring round after round into the bug's torso. It screamed out and fell back off the ledge.

"Lieutenant, you alright?" Tagart asked

"I'll live" he replied "Get the lines ready!" he grabbed his rifle and tossed another grenade down into the horde below, following up with a pulse burst.

Zelna moved along the rope to another point. She hated not being able to wipe the sweat from her forehead and, despite her best efforts, could not stop sweating every time the realization that she was dangling from a cavern roof about a kilometre above the floor crossed her mind. Looking over at her squad mates, she coughed and, grabbing a charge from her pouch, wedged it into the cavern roof with the micro drill. Tapping her comm, she tried her best not to look at the floor

"I'm done" she said

"Copy that" Sarah replied "Move to where the Specs are supposed to drilling. I want that spot secured"

"Understood, Lieutenant" she replied and pulled out her rifle.

"Everyone else move there when you are done" Sarah finished. The responses were scattered. Sarah guessed that everyone was concentrating on not falling.

Anna was trying to enjoy herself. As much as she could at least. Always the high spirit, she zipped across her line, planting charges at the intervals. Looking down occasionally at the horde below she watched as the bug scaled the walls towards the troopers on the ledge.

Out of the corner of her eye she spotted something else moving

"LIEUTENANTS, HOPPERS!" she comm'd. She saw Sarah stop and look down

"I see them. Keep working. Zelna give the Lieutenant a hand, will you?"

"Indeed I shall" Zelna replied. Anna looked over as Zelna upholstered her rifle and began taking shots at the Hoppers, most of them hitting their marks.

"Lieutenant Max, I suggest you being moving up here" Sarah said

"I concur" he replied. Anna tilted her head back up and wedged her last charge into place

"This is Anna, my charges are all in place" she said as she pulled out her rifle and tried to locate a Hopper

"Copy that" Sarah replied

Bending her legs, she braced as her boots came in contact with the rock wall. As a Hopper flew in her direction, pulse rounds from her rifle found their mark. The creature's eyes were torn and it screamed in helplessness as it's wings were clipped by Anna's rifle rounds. It began the long plummet towards the cavern floor. Anna switched her sights and fired at another Hopper that was coming at her as she dangled from the ceiling. Her shots bounced off it's armour and it kept coming

"Urrgh" she grunted, trying to steady her rifle. She couldn't stay still long enough and since the Hopper was between her and the troopers on the ledge, she dared not fire without a positive aim.

Lowering her rifle, she pulled out her shock stick and extended it as the Hopper flew closer. Her eyes narrowed, looking for the perfect moment to strike. She swung.

The electric end made contact with the Hopper and it cried out as ten thousand volts coursed through its body. The shrieking pierced Anna's helmet, going right into her ears. She could only watch as the Hopper flew towards her, it's wing slicing through her support rope and ripping the grapple launcher right off of her suit.

"Lieutenant!" she yelled as she plummeted towards the floor. "MY JETS WON'T FIRE!" she screamed, frantically pressing her wrist computer

Sarah looked just as Anna's line snapped.

"CORPORAL!" she shouted and grabbed her grapple launcher, launching it at the ceiling across the cavern.

It burrowed into the rock and sent a quick pulse to the launcher, telling it that it was secure. Sarah reached around and unhooked her own line, sending her falling down towards the floor. Streamlining her body, she managed to catch up to Anna

"CORPORAL, GRAB MY HAND!" Sarah ordered. Anna looked up and reached out her arm. Sarah reached out and grabbed Anna's wrist as the cable went taught

"Gotcha" Sarah said as the two dangled in the air.

"Thanks, Lieutenant" Anna replied

"Anytime" Sarah replied, pressing a key on her grapple launcher, reeling the line in.

"Look out!" Anna yelled, pulling out her rifle as a Hopper closed in on them. All Sarah could do is watch. One arm on her grapple and the other supporting Anna, she was immobile.

Anna pulled the trigger and sent a pulse burst right into the Hopper's eye. It burst, splattering goo all over it's face. It shrieked and flew off.

"Nice shot" Sarah said

"Thanks" Anna replied "Look!" she pointed at a corner of the cavern ceiling as a laser shone through it, circling intermittently.

Max was thrown back as a Warrior climbed over the ledge. He landed on the rock with an "Ooof"

Kuts moved in and fired her rifle, piercing the Warrior's torso with pulse rounds. It cried out and fell down the cliff onto the pile of Warrior carcases

"Lieutenant, we're done here" Sarah came over the comm "The Specs have drilled through and we're moving"

"Copy that" Max replied "We're right behind you" he said and turned to the troopers "Retreat up the wall, now!"

As they moved back, several Warriors climbed over the ledge, roaring at them. Max and two troopers stopped backing up and moved to attack them, firing their rifles. Pulse rounds tore through the Warriors. They let out a final cry before succumbing to the attack and falling to the ground.

Max attached his harness as more Warriors began to make their way over the ledge and towards them. He held his rifle and fired. Pulse rounds left the barrel one after one, some hitting rock, others hitting their targets. As Warriors lost their balance and fell off the wall, the troopers ascended ever higher.

Hand over hand the troopers moved alone the ropes towards the exit as the Warriors crawled up the cliff after them. With one hand holding him up, Max grabbed his rifle and took shots at the bugs. Several shots hit their mark, with the Warrior screeching. Pulling it's legs out of the rock, it lost the hold and fell down towards the floor. Max let himself grin as he holstered his rifle and continued to move towards the exit.

"C'mon, move move move!" Sarah shouted as the troopers hoisted themselves out of the hole. She walked up to Setref and saluted. He saluted back.

"Major, we're just about all out from the cavern" she informed him

"Good to hear. We've called for pickup and troops are being pulled out of the combat zones elsewhere with all goals achieved" he said as he walked with Sarah alongside

"That's good to hear"

"Indeed. Sounds like we are going to pull this off" he said. Sarah nodded "And I..." he stopped as a Warrior cry broke the silent sky.

Grabbing her rifle, Sarah scanned the area. Seeing nothing, she stood up and turned to look back at the troopers just as Max climbed out. He grunted as he pulled himself out. Standing up, he looked at Sarah

"We're all out" he said

"Good. Let's move" she said and turned to see Setref opening fire

"We have Warriors. Troopers hold the line!" he ordered. Sarah grabbed her rifle and opened fire. Pulse rounds poured out, lighting up the rocks as darkness gripped the sky.

The Warriors numbered in the hundreds. But that did not stop the steadfast determination of the troopers as they held the line. Each of their weapons pouring out round after round into the horde.

Time almost seemed to slow. Seconds felt like minutes. Sarah barely felt her fingers leave the trigger. Warriors seemed to move in slow motion as they jumped up and died in front of her. The sweat beaded down her face as her adrenaline levels rose. She could feel the vibrations of her pulse rifle through her entire body. The Warrior cries pierced her suit and their green blood spattered on her helmet. A bright light shone through the area and a large explosion followed. She felt a heavy tap on her shoulder pad.

"Transport is here. We have to move" Sarah barely heard Zelna say.

Standing up, she fired her rifle as a Warrior lunged at her. The pulse rounds went right through the creature, as did the creature's front limb go through her left shoulder. She screamed as the pain shot through her body like an electric current. She dropped her rifle, clutching the wound in an attempt to stem the bleeding. The Warrior died on top of her, pinning her to the ground as she saw other Warriors encircling her.

Kultai turned around and saw Sarah go down

"The Lieutenant!" he said and lifted his rifle, firing round after round into the horde. He moved closer, firing his weapon and downing a Warrior while Anna moved beside him, her own rifle blazing with light.

They reached the fallen Warrior and lifted it up while Fontina provided cover.

"You okay, Lieutenant?" Anna asked as they looked down. The Warrior leg was still wedged inside Sarah's shoulder and her eyes were closed.

"Is she...?" Kultai asked, supporting the Warrior. Anna leaned down and touched the left chest piece on Sarah's armour. It beeped twice

"No, she's alive. Armour says her heart is still beating. But that's it" she said

"Good enough. Let's get her out of here" he said.

Grunting, he lifted the Warrior off the ground, the power suit augmentation being the only reason he could do so. Setref moved in and helped Anna pull Sarah out as Kultai let the bug drop to the ground with a resounding thud. He lifted his weapon again, fired into the horde and dropped another Warrior. One lunged forward and caught one of the Spec Ops troopers in the back, ripping open his suit. He went down as Kultai fired his rifle and took out the Warrior. Hetlya grabbed the trooper and helped him to the landing zone.

As the transport's cargo ramp lowered, it's turrets opened fire, blazing streams of light. Max, Setref, Anna and Fontina carried Sarah and layed her down on the platform.

"We're all on. GO!" Setref yelled into his comm. The ship began to hum and the platform raised as the Warriors charged. It locked in place as the engines fired, lifting it off of the ground and into the air.

Barcel ran down from the cockpit, her med gear at the ready as Anna stood over Sarah. Removing Sarah's helmet, Barcel plugged her cable into the chest piece on Sarah's suit and lowered her visor

"How is she?" Anna asked, innocently enough. Barcel didn't reply.

"Corporal?" Setref asked

"Tell the pilot we need to get back to the _Destiny_. Now" Barcel said pointedly. Anna nodded and ran up the stairwell

"How is she?" Setref asked again

"Six cracked ribs, shattered left arm from the collarbone down to the wrist, head trauma and a massive infection and that's just what I could treat here" Barcel replied

"So it's bad. Will she survive?"

"If she's on an operating table within twenty minutes, I'd give a fifty fifty chance. The number goes down every minute after that"

"Okay. I'll inform the General" he said and walked towards the front of the craft.

Setref stood at the comm station and signalled the _Destiny_. Kim appeared on the screen

"Major. Report" she demanded

"All objectives completed, General. All charges are in place and synced"

"That's good to hear. Causalities?"

"I lost two troopers. Neither underground squad lost anyone, though Lieutenant Stoppable is critically injured" Setref said. He saw no change in Kim's face, but he knew her heart had sunk. "Corporal Barcel told me to tell you to have the surgery ward prepared for when we land and she gives the Lieutenant a decent chance of survival"

"How decent?"

"Fifty percent if she goes under the knife within ten minutes"

"Understood. Medical personnel will be ready when you land. We are moving into firing position"

"Understood, General"

"Stoppable, out"

Kim closed the channel and turned to McMillian

"I'm going to check on the rail gun preparation, Admiral"

"Understood, General. I will comm you when we are in range"

"Understood" Kim replied and walked into the lift.

Once the doors had closed, Kim gripped her chest. With one hand on the railing to keep herself upright she tried her best to regain her composure. Breathing heavily she managed to stay on her feet and keep herself upright.

xxxx

"Okay, let's get this show on the road" McMillian said, sitting in her chair "Helm, ahead one half. Set intercept course for the firing position. Communications, I want all troopers off the surface before we reach orbit. Move people" she said and watched as officers moved around the bridge, going about their tasks.

xxxx

Kim stepped out of the lift, her uniform crisp. The air was humid and stale. Personnel ran around tending to systems. She walked up to an officer

"Lieutenant" she said. He turned and saluted

"General"

"At ease" she said, returning the salute. "Status"

"Rail guns at seventy five percent charge. We'll be ready to fire before we enter orbit"

"Good. How many shots?"

"Even dozen. Though that will tax the ship and the systems beyond their point of safety based on how damaged the ship is now. I wouldn't recommend more than three salvos"

"I'll keep that under advisement" Kim said as the comm sounded

"General Stoppable to hangar three. General Stoppable to hangar three" it said. Kim walked to the lift and pressed the key.

Arriving on the right deck, she took off towards the hangar bay at a dead run, arriving just after the transport touched down.

It's cargo pad lowered, the medical team took off, pulling a stretcher. Sarah's armour was in a pile on the side of the pad and Barcel was stripping off her own armour, getting ready to go into surgery. Kim got her first look at Sarah, who had a hole in her shoulder and whose face was covered in blood. Her eyes were still closed.

Barcel locked eyes with Kim as she walked by. Kim gave a subtle nod and walked towards Setref who was tending to his own troopers with a few medics around

"Major" Kim said. He turned around and saluted.

"General"

"Report"

"Situation secure. My last understanding was that all troopers had been airlifted out"

"So I've heard. I need you and Corporal Theon up on the bridge to coordinate the attack" Kim ordered. Setref and Anna saluted then headed for the door at a brisk pace. Kim walked over to Zelna

"Sergeant, look over your gear and get your squad up to ready status. After the bombardment I'm sending you back in for damage assessment" she said "I don't have another Lieutenant to assign, so you're taking over until Sarah is back on her feet, understood?"

"Understood, General" Zelna saluted as Kim walked away.

xxxx xxxx

Kim stood on the bridge, beside McMillian. A small monitor hooked into the surgery security camera. Kim tried not to watch the doctors work on Sarah, but she couldn't help but look every now and then.

McMillian had decided not to make it something to talk about, especially given the situation.

"Admiral. We are at the no return point. Do you wish to commit to attack run?" one of the officers asked

"Commit. Begin attack run" McMillian ordered "Extend rail guns and lock targeting package into the computer"

"Aye" the officer replied and went about her work.

"Detonate the packages" Kim ordered Setref. He nodded and flipped a switch on the console.

They watched as part of the planet lit up in a massive fireball as a dozen antimatter warheads went off in a simultaneous detonation.

"Detonation successful, General. All packages detonated" Setref reported

"Good work. Admiral, phase one complete" Kim reported.

"Excellent" McMillian replied and turned to the officer

"Give me a countdown"

"Approaching twenty second target window in thirty seconds...twenty seconds...ten seconds...five...four...three...two...one..."

"FIRE!" McMillian ordered. The ship creaked and groaned as if it was about to fall apart. Every bulkhead groaned under the stress. Consoles fizzled and sparked. Kim watched the monsters as the guns lit up and fired two bursts of light towards the planet, impacting in the same spot as the detonator packages.

Another two shots.

Then two more.


	17. Chapter 17 Aftermath

Disclamer: I don't own Kim Possible and any related characters/vehicles/trademarked names to either her or Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles. However most of the cast is of my creation.

**Chapter 17**

**Aftermath**

From where Kim stood, she saw the impact onto the surface in a bright display of light. The impacts seemed to shake the planet to it's core. Large rifts began to form around the target zone and the planet began to crack

"GET US OUT OF HERE! EMERGENCY THRUST!" McMillian yelled. The ship lurched forward, turning back towards the fleet.

Just as the ship left orbit, a large plume shot up from the planet and then settled just as quickly.

"What was that?" Kim blurted and pressed the comm button "Spacer and Spark, cleared to launch" she said, followed by an "Affirmative" coming through the speaker.

"Sergeant Zelna, prepare to disembark once fighters have swept the area"

"Aye, General" Zelna replied through the comm

The console beeped, signalling that the fighters had left the bay. Kim turned her attention, just for a second, to the surgery ward camera. She was relieved to see the heart rate monitor functioning.

Her attention was quickly redrawn to the main screen tracking the fighters.

"Nearing the atmosphere" Amber "Spacer" McAire radioed "Spark, peel off and take a low atmospheric look. I'm going to do a low orbit fly by"

"Copy that. Activating cameras and flying in" her wing mate replied

"Understood"

Kim watched the sensors as the fighters broke formation, one headed towards the surface, the other into the lower atmosphere.

"_Destiny_, this is Spark. I'm seeing major damage down here. The ground looks like it was torn open. Not much remains"

"We copy, Lieutenant. What about the King Bug?"

"The area is littered with goo. No sign of the bug structure. No signs of any movement at all"

"Understood. Take higher altitude and begin a CAP, both of you" McMillian ordered

"Aye, Admiral" both pilots replied. McMillian nodded at Kim, who pressed a button on her comm

"Sergeant, you have a go for launch"

"Understood" Zelna replied

xxxx xxxx

Stepping over a charred Warrior corpse, Zelna held her rifle high, looking around.

"Nothing is alive down here. We are proceeding to the cavern location" she said into the comm

"Understood" Kim replied "Update us as you proceed"

"Copy that" Zelna said and looked towards the troopers "Move out"

xxxx xxxx

"Now that is a big hole" Kultai remarked looking down into the crater.

"No question. Bigger than when we were here" Anna replied

"I want a sweep of the area, find the King and report in. Kultai take Fontina, Theon take Hetlya. Radio if you find anything" Zelna ordered.

"Copy that" the troopers replied and began to fan out

Walking around the side, Zelna saw a large mass of what appeared to be flesh. She could see the rest of the creature. The near perfect sphere that it had been looked like it had been split with an axe. Goo littered the area and the cavern floor was covered by charred Warrior carcases

"Down there, she pointed and began to walk

Zelna jumped down to the ledge. Looking down, she tapped her comm

"General. We've found the bug king, thing" Zelna said

"Understood. What do you have to report?"

"It's split right in half. But it looks like part of the tissue are still moving. It might be somewhat alive"

"Even with all that firepower it lives" Kim said quietly "Can you do anything about it?"

"Yes, Ma'am. We brought nukes with us"

"Use them all. However you deem necessary. I will notify your ride that it's time to evac"

"Appreciated, General. We'll get to work right away. We might need an airstrike"

"I'll prep the fighters and brief the pilots"

"Understood. We are moving in" Zelna said and closed the channel.

Turning to the squad, she spoke up.

"Alright, I want all charges pooled and tossed into the mass. We need to blow this thing wide open. Remote detonation of all charges. Theon, can you link them to a single detonator?"

"Yeah, shouldn't be an issue"

"Get on it" Zelna ordered. Anna nodded and grabbed the charges that all the troopers had brought out from their suit pouches. Grabbing some gear from the extra pouch she had on her suit, she began fiddling with the charges.

"Okay, everyone else cover the area"

xxxx xxxx

"That's affirmative, Sky Marshal. Based on what we know so far, we believe that this world is the bug's planet of origin, not Klendathu, as previously thought. The entity that we encountered seemed to grow right out of the planet, suggesting that they had actually originated here"

"We will dispatch the fifteenth fleet to your location and to secure the planet" Sky Marshal Granger said "They will arrive in five days"

"That is good to hear. We believe to have killed the creature" McMillian said

"Oh really?" General Tracia replied curiously

"Yes, General. We mounted an assault that we believe to have been successful. The new rail guns on the _Destiny_ worked perfectly, even with the ship as damaged as it is. I have an M.I. squad on the surface now, confirming that the creature is dead" Kim added

"That is good to hear, General" Admiral Horwizte said "The Sixth fleet will be arriving in just over one day"

"At that time, yourself and the three surviving squads will be taking to the _Desert Hand_ and head for Earth. You've all earned some rest time and INTEL would like to officially debrief all survivors" Yerz said

"Understood. If you'll excuse me, I was just preparing an airstrike to finish off the creature" Kim said

"Very well, General. But leave some for research to study" Granger said

"Understood" Kim replied

"Then dismissed" Granger added. Kim saluted and walked out, leaving McMillian to finish the briefing.

xxxx

Kim walked into the Med bay

"How is it going?" she asked one of the nurses, nodding at the surgery ward

"It's touch and go. But all signs indicate she'll survive"

"Good. How much longer do they think it'll take?"

"It's coming up on how long they said. So I don't imagine much longer unless something has gone wrong"

"Page me when the surgery is finished, please"

"Of course, General" the nurse said

"Thank you" Kim said and walked out.

xxxx xxxx

"Charges set, Sarge. We're ready" Anna said

"Then let's move. Everyone back to the transport, now!" Zelna ordered as she turned and ran up the rocky ledge. Breathing deeply she kept herself going.

Dawn was breaking. The sun's glow enveloped the Strikers as they moved towards their transport, reaching it shortly after the light began to grab hold of the landscape.

"We're on, GO!" Zelna shouted at the transport pilot. As the transport hummed to life and lifted off of the surface, Zelna made sure that the troopers were all in their seats before sitting in her own.

"Optimum distance reached" the pilot said over the comm. Zelna then turned to Anna "Hit the detonator" she said. Anna nodded and flipped the switch. The troopers watched the monitor as the massive explosion rocked the landscape. The iconic mushroom cloud rising on the horizon reminding them of the explosion's power.

The transport slowed to a hovering stop as the blast cloud diminished.

"Countdown, three minutes until radiation within acceptable levels" the pilot said over the intercom.

"Acknowledged" Zelna replied and started the timer on her wrist computer as the rest of the squad watched the explosion on the screen.

"Now that is a big blast" Anna remarked

"Got that right" Kultai added

xxxx xxxx

"I think we got it" Fontina said quietly.

"I'd agree on that" Anna agreed as the squad looked over the crater. The spherical mass had been halved. Part of it still connected to the cavern wall, part of it hung, barely attached, to the connected section and the rest of it was either lying on the crater floor or in tiny pieces. None of the tissue was moving. It looked truly dead.

"_Destiny_ this is Sahara squad. It's dead. I repeat, it's dead" Zelna reported

"Copy that, Sahara. Proceed back to the ship. You're being rotated out" McMillian said over the comm

"Roger. On our way"

xxxx xxxx

Kim stood at the foot of the ramp as the transport touched down and the squad disembarked.

"Report" she ordered

"It's dead" Kultai replied "Dead and in pieces"

"Good. Maybe that will end this once and for all" Kim said

"We can hope" Anna said

"Grab some chow and some rack time. You've all earned it" Kim ordered, motioning to the door

"Aye" the troopers replied

"General?" Zelna walked up

"What is it, Sergeant?"

"How is the Lieutenant?"

"Still in surgery. I was just heading to look in"

"Mind if I join you?"

"Not at all" Kim replied and began walking to the door.

xxxx

"Doctor, are you finished?" Kim asked, as she and Zelna walked into the med bay.

"Yes. The surgery was a success" he replied and walked over to a display screen, calling up some images "There was some internal bleeding and the bones in her left arm were shattered. Some other serious damage from the impact as well. She'll live and she'll heal. There was nothing irreparable. But some things I couldn't do anything about. That, she will half to heal on her own. The good news is that she will recover one hundred percent. The downside is that will take a few months. As supervising physician, I cannot let her return to active duty for time being, at least not in any field capacity, however she will be fit to go about her life under supervision" he finished

"That's good to hear" Kim said "Please have all relevant medical data forwarded to Camp Terifa in Middleton" she handed him a data pad

"Of course, General" he replied, looking over the pad. Kim looked at the medical table

"When will she be awake?"

"That's up to her. The sedative I gave her for the surgery will wear off soon. But she was unconscious when you brought her in so she'll wake up when she is ready to. But I cannot give a timetable"

"Understandable. Page me when she wakes, please Doctor"

"Of course, the very second" he replied.

Kim and Zelna stepped out into the hall

"Sergeant, you will remain in command of the Strikers for now, though you won't be seeing much action. The Sixth Fleet will arrive tomorrow and all original survivors are being rotated to Earth for some downtime"

"Permission to say we've earned it?" Zelna asked with a grin

"Granted" Kim smirked for a second "But for now, Sergeant, as acting Lieutenant, you have paperwork to do. Command wants full reports from all expedition members on this incident"

"Aye, General" Zelna said

"Dismissed" Kim said as she turned on her heel and walked away.

xxxx

"How is she?" Anna asked as Zelna walked into the squad bunk room.

"Out of surgery. Alive but unconscious" Zelna replied

"That's a relief" Kultai said

"It is. But you and I have work to do" she said, pointing at Anna

"Me? What did I do?"

"You survived" Zelna smirked "Command wants full reports from everyone who survived the incident. We head back to Earth tomorrow and we'll arrive in three days after that so you all have time to finish your report"

"What am I supposed to put in them?" Anna asked

"Just write down the events from your perspective starting from when we left Earth. Make sure it's on the Lieutenant's desk before we reach Earth"

"Understood, Sergeant" Anna saluted

"The rest of you, sim training for the evening. The General has volunteered to supervise. You have half an hour and then you are to report the simulators. And be wary of ship repairs when you move around, understood?"

"Aye, Sergeant" they all replied

xxxx xxxx

Kim lay back on her bunk and looked up at the ceiling, thinking about all the missions she pulled off during the War. Trying to sleep, she shifted onto her side and tried not to think, but she couldn't switch off her mind. With a groan she hoisted herself off of the bunk and walked over the window. Gazing out at the stars, she yawned and resigned herself to get some coffee.

As she had just finished changing into her uniform, the intercom beeped

"General Stoppable to med bay. General Stoppable to med bay" it said. Kim's eyes widened and she ran out the door.

She made it to med bay in record time. As she entered, Sarah was just starting to rouse.

"Uhhhh, what's going on?" she asked, dazed

"You're safe" Kim comforted her "You took a bad hit there, kiddo"

"How bad?"

"Lieutenant, what is the last thing you remember?" the doctor asked.

"Taking on the Warriors above the cavern. One lunged at me, I fired and then, then nothing" Sarah said

"You were impaled by a Warrior claw" Kim informed her "Right in your left shoulder and then it landed on top of you"

"I hope somebody told it I wasn't that kind of girl" Sarah snickered. Kim couldn't help but smile.

"We sewed you up and you will recover and you can return to active duty once we reach Earth. But only in a limited capacity"

"How long was I out?"

"A little over twenty four hours" Kim said

"Quite a nap" Sarah said and turned to the doctor "Do I need to stay here?"

"No. But you do need to wear a medical sensor for the next week at least and use your left arm as little as possible. The hole in your shoulder needs to heal"

"I'll keep that in mind" Sarah said, standing up and gripping her left shoulder.

"Come on, I want to show you something" Kim said

xxxx xxxx

Standing on the crater wall, Kim looked down into the mass of goop that had been the bug king. Her long red hair blew in the wind as the midday sun shone down on the rocks

"So this is where it ends, eh?" Sarah asked, groggily supporting herself on a crutch

"It is. This bug was like no other and now the war is over for good" Kim said

As another breeze blew through her hair, images of her former comrades flashed through her mind and she was reminded of all the time they spent together on the battlefields. All the experiences they had shared, all the battles they had been in.

"You okay?" Sarah asked, looking up at her mother

"I'm fine. Just thinking about all the lives that were lost to get us to this point" Kim replied, stepping down from the rocks. Her comm beeped

"General Stoppable, come in"

"This is Stoppable. Go ahead"

"General, I thought you'd like to know that the Sixth Fleet has just dropped out of hyperspace"

"Understood. We are returning to the _Destiny_"

"Acknowledged" Kim said and turned to Sarah "Come on, let's go"

Sarah hobbled along up the transport ramp, stopping to take one more look at the world that had tried to best her and failed. The glare of the sun on the rocks shone in her eyes, so she narrowed them and smiled.

xxxx xxxx

Kim walked on to the bridge as the Sixth Fleet's commander hailed the _Destiny_. Out the main window, Kim saw the dozen or so star ships that made up the Sixth Fleet taking up station around the planet.

"On screen, Admiral" Ensign Roty said as the image of a older, worn officer appeared on the screen

"Admiral Harris" McMillian said

"Admiral McMillian. We are ready to take over the flag for this operation"

"Understood. Do you have a repair barge in your group?"

"Yes. The _Letya_ was added at the last minute amid a need for repairs"

"Yes. Please direct her this way. We took plasma fire and we're only just holding together"

"Understood. She's on her way"

"Appreciated. We're forwarding you our surface scans and all relevant information"

"Thank you. We are going to begin establishing a base immediately"

"I'm going to transfer all assigned personnel to the _Desert Hand_ so she can get under way and move the _Destiny_ towards the moon"

"Understood. _Phoenix_ out" Harris said and closed the channel. McMillian stood up from her chair

"I'll see you back on Earth then, General" she said.

"I'll look forward to it" Kim replied "Permission to disembark"

"Granted" McMillian said and saluted. Kim saluted back and walked off the bridge.

xxxx

Sarah walked into the Striker's bunk room and stood in the door quietly

Fontina was the first to notice

"OFFICER ON THE DECK!" she yelled out. The other troopers fell into line

"At ease" Sarah said

"Lieutenant, you're awake" Barcel exclaimed

"Yeah, just woke up a couple hours ago. Thanks for the rescue, by the way"

"Anytime, l t" Anna replied

"Grab your gear and head for the hangar. The Sixth Fleet has arrived and we're headed back for Earth on the _Desert Hand_. Chopper leaves in twenty"

"AYE" They replied

"Dismissed" Sarah said loudly and watched as the troopers scurried around, grabbing their belongings and whatever they had.

With nothing to pack, Sarah headed for the hangar.

xxxx xxxx

Kim stood on the _Desert Hand_'s bridge, looking out in space

"General" Kazli said

"Yes, Commander?"

"All preparations are complete. We are ready to get under way if you have no objections"

"None" Kim replied

"Very well. Shall we say good bye to this rock?"

"And hope we never see it again" Kim said with a smile

"I'll second that. Very well, Major Heilsa, set a course for Earth and engage the hyper drive"

"Aye Commander. Engaging drive"

Kim looked back out into space as the ship moved position. The stars went from being dots to lines as the ship accelerated into hyperspace.


	18. Chapter 18 Finale

Disclamer: I don't own Kim Possible and any related characters/vehicles/trademarked names to either her or Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles. However most of the cast is of my creation.

**Chapter 18**

**Finale**

"Ah Earth" Sarah said as the transport touched down in Camp Terifa "I was beginning to forget what it was like"

"Oh don't even get me started" Kim smirked as the cargo pad descended to the ground

"General Stoppable" an officer greeted the two at the ground level

"Yes?" Kim asked

"Colonel Meraks, INTEL. We'd like to debrief you right away" he said

"Very well, lead away"

"You misunderstand, we want to debrief everyone who survived the event. Please gather them and proceed to the base auditorium for thirteen hundred hours" he said and handed her a data pad. She scrolled through it and saw the Sky Marshal's signature

"Very well. Thirteen hundred" she said. He saluted and walked away. Kim turned to Sarah

"Lieutenant, check in with the base medic and then gather your squad"

"Understood, General" Sarah said and walked off.

xxxx xxxx

"Stoppable, Sarah. Theon, Anna and Heilsa, Samantha" an officer read out their names. Sarah got up and followed him down the hall to the base offices until she was directed to a small, dimly lit room.

Groaning, she sat down at the table in the centre of the room, putting her crutch off to the side. Two officers walked in and sat down opposite from her. One of them flipped on a recording device

"For the record, you are Lieutenant Sarah Stoppable. Serial number S S eight seven three two six five, correct?" one of the officers asked

"Correct" she answered

"Please describe events as you saw them"

"We exited from hyperspace and were attacked right away. The ship was damaged and we crashed into the surface. I was injured and we were attacked by Warriors. I lost one of my troopers in the crash" Sarah recited her story as the officers took notes "We held the line until we learned that the _Valkyrie_ was more or less in a better defensive position. General Stoppable ordered us to check out the crash, which we did. Wasn't long after that that we relocated to the new site. That's when the Kamikazes and Hoppers hit us. I lost another trooper in that battle and the survivors lost a good pilot"

"Major Arke, yes?" one of the officers asked

"Correct" Sarah replied and continued "My squad was rotated out and we stumbled upon a heavy transport that was submerged. It contained Marauders and lots of ammunition. Defying the General's orders, I took three of my troopers and went to distract the bugs for as long as I could. I lost my Sergeant on that outing just as we were rescued by the _Destiny_'s personnel"

"What happened next?"

"The General decided the best course of action was to seek out the bug queen or at least the brain and terminate it to buy us time"

"And what did you find?"

"The bug king. Or at least that was what we called it. What we figured was that this thing was the original bug creator, their maker, per se"

"And you terminated it?"

"It took six dozen nuclear charges and the _Destiny's _new antimatter rail guns, but we killed the thing. As we retreated from planting the charges with Major Eric Setref's squad I was wounded and knocked unconscious. I woke up later in the _Destiny_'s medical bay" she finished

"Anything else?"

"No. That's how it happened more or less"

"Very well, Lieutenant, thank you" one of the officers said and opened the door for her. Sarah walked out.

xxxx xxxx

"So what are we doing, General?" Sarah asked as she and Zelna stood in Kim's office after all the debriefings had finished

"Command has authorized some R&R for everyone. Two weeks of R&R to be exact. Though they want your squad doing some press events so it'll be more like a week and a bit"

"And then what?"

"Off world assignment which is still being determined at this time"

"Understood, General. What press events?"

"Sky Marshal wants to pin medals on your squad, Lieutenant. But you didn't hear that from me, clear?"

"Clear, General" Sarah replied

"Good. Your squad is dismissed for now" Kim said "But everyone has to be back here tomorrow morning"

"Aye, General" Sarah said, saluted and walked out with Zelna in tow.

xxxx xxxx

The next day...

"I never thought I'd have this happen to me" Anna whispered to Barcel as the vehicle drove down the street. People had lined the street and waved as the squad was driven down the road back towards the base.

"I know. It's weird" Barcel replied.

Decked out in full power suit armour rather than dress greens, as requested by the Sky Marshal, Sarah smiled proudly. She remembered being told that the Sky Marshal wanted to portray the troopers as soldiers, always ready to fight for the people rather than soldiers who wore fancy uniforms. As a nerve spark shot through her body, she clutched her left side and then tried to wave again. Putting her right boot up on top of a Warrior mock up, she stood tall.

Men and women. Children and adults. They all lined the streets to watch the Strikers being driven in the parade as screens on the buildings told their story of heroism. Wishing her mother was with her, Sarah waved at a small family standing at the side. Fighters buzzed overhead, their engines rattling windows. Confetti streamed down. Sarah herself thought it a bit extravagant, but reminded herself that she never did shy away from the spotlight.

Kim, the only one in dress uniform, sat in the vehicle passenger seat, a small smile on her face and trying not to reminisce about her own parade all those years ago. She sat up and waved at the crowd of people, trying not to obstruct their view of the Strikers.

Arriving at the base, they exited the vehicle, carrying their helmets under their right arms. In formation they marched up to the stage and put their helmets on small pedestals that had been set up. They all stood in formation line, waiting for their turn.

Sarah stood still through the entire ceremony, where the Sky Marshal pinned a medal on her suit and shook her right hand. She kept looking forward as he pinned yet another medal on Kim's uniform. She saluted and shook his hand as press reporters took photos of the event.

"Today we salute these brave soldiers and what they did in service to SICON and the people of planet Earth" the Sky Marshall said. His tone took on a more solemn sound "We also honour their comrades who made the ultimate sacrifice and gave their lives so that the Arachnid menace could be once and for all defeated"

The crowd cheered as he stepped back from the microphone. Sarah, Kim and the rest of the troopers raised their right arms to their forehead in the traditional salute. They held it for what seemed like forever and then slowly lowered their arms. Sarah breathed a small sigh as all those faces crossed her mind.

xxxx xxxx

"Alright apes" Sarah said as she stood in the Strikers bunk room at Camp Terifa "New orders. Thanks to our exemplary performance we are being rewarded with two weeks of R&R and then we are heading off to Argus two to be rotated on guard duty for the Styline Research Station. The scientists need some bodies for heavy lifting"

"Sounds familiar" Anna commented

"Not this time. This was one of SICON's first scientific outposts and was never under bug attack during the war, so it's clean" she told them with a smirk

"That's a relief" Kultai said

"No kidding" Barcel replied

"The General has cars outside waiting for us. They'll take you guys anywhere you need to go in the city. But don't forget to return to base before the end of the month"

"Copy that, Lieutenant"

"Everyone is dismissed then. Have fun" Sarah said and saluted. The rest of the squad saluted back. She turned and walked out of the room, heading for her office.

xxxx xxxx

Sarah dropped her bag into the trunk of the waiting vehicle and, taking one last look at the statue in the centre of the base turn around, got into the car.

"Where to, Ma'am?" the driver asked as she closed the door

"My home, please" she replied "Eighty Six Aleka Drive"

"Right away" he replied.

As the car left the gate, Sarah took a long look at the base gate and quietly saluted, something she told herself was for all the troopers that had fallen on their expedition. As the car drove off, she opened a folder and began reading over some files she had been given.

Fin.


End file.
